Broken
by Lioncourt619
Summary: Leigh Harris is a Mutant working for S.H.I.E.L.D., when she finds out they've been torturing one of Earth's worst enemies, can she fix him, should she fix him? Can he help her fix herself?
1. Found Him

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Marvel, THOR or the Avengers. Leigh Harris is my own creation. **

**A/N: This story was inspired by another story that I read on , I love breaking down strong characters, looking deep into their psyches and slowly putting them back together again.**

The door cracked open and Agent Leigh Harris nearly vomited; the man in the room was nearly unrecognizable. His dark hair was a tangled mess and his face a mass of bruises. A metal ball was inserted in his mouth and held in place with a thick leather strap. He was tied to a chair and was clad only in jeans, which were torn and bloody. His head hung limply against a chest that was nothing more than an expanse of new and slowly healing bruises.

She took a shaky step forward and finally recognized who she was looking at. She slowly turned to face the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The fury building in her would have made her boss's last name look insignificant.

"You weren't willing to blow up Manhattan, but this…this is acceptable?"

"He's a war criminal." Fury said, his one good eye surprisingly devoid of emotion.

"_Never_ in our history has anyone, other than the Nazis, _tortured_ war criminals!" she shrieked, she could feel her blood pressure rising. "You…you need to get away from me Director."

"And what are you going to do?" Fury asked, seeming unimpressed with her display of anger.

Before he could blink he was pinned against the wall of the cell, a force-field pressing him tighter and tighter; Leigh could hear him gasping for breath but couldn't bring herself to care. This was so incredibly wrong. She tapped her earpiece and spoke softly.

"I found him."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

The trip back to Stark Tower had been an agonizing one; she was glad that Stark has his own helicopter and helipad at the tower.

She'd used her "gifts" to open the locks that bound his hands and feet to the chair he was sitting on and then had used a sharp knife to slice the leather strap that held his gag in place. A tear slid down her cheek when some blood trickled out of his mouth when she removed the silver ball.

"What have they done to you?" she whispered to his unconscious form.

Another large leather strap held him in the chair and once Rogers had arrived she unbuckled it and the Captain had scooped the unconscious man into his arms and carefully carried him to the waiting chopper, setting him on the gurney and covering him with a blanket. The shallowness of his breaths worried her, but at least he was breathing.

"Does Thor know?" she asked, her eyes watching as Stark started up the chopper and brought them home.

"He knows he's been found." Rogers answered over the mics in their ears. "His condition, no."

Leigh nodded and reached under the blanket to gently rest her hand on the hand at his side.

"What did they do to him?" Rogers asked, looking at the unconscious figure.

"I think the better answer is what didn't they do to him." Leigh sighed, "I don't know what happened to Fury or to S.H.I.E.L.D., but this is not what I signed up for."

~A~A~A~A~A~

Pepper Potts was waiting for them when they got back; her already fair skin went ghost white when she saw the man on the gurney.

"Dr. Banner is waiting in the exam room." She whispered, her eyes glued to his face. "Tony?"

Tony Stark was at the foot of the gurney, Rogers at the front and Harris at the side as they rolled their 'package' towards Banner.

"They tortured him Pepper." Tony said, "I don't know why, how or for how long but it must have been excessive and repetitive for him to look like this."

Leigh hadn't let go of his hand the entire trip, but when they got the exam room she slipped into her "nurse mode" and helped them get him on the table and then turned to Banner.

"Alright Doc, what do we do?"

"Tell me what you see." Banner said, pulling the blanket off their patient.

"Multiple contusions and lacerations." She let her eyes roam, "Possibly dislocated left shoulder, ligature marks at the wrists and ankles. Large dark contusion on right side could indicate broken or fractured ribs."

"Alright, so let's x-rays and take a look at how bad the internal damage is." Banner said, moving the equipment around.

Leigh looked at the images popping up on the screen in front of her and nearly vomited again. All but one of his ribs were broken, his left shoulder was indeed dislocated, both of his lower legs were broken and his jaw was dislocated. She was overwhelmed with what she and Bruce had to do. There were more tears in her eyes as she looked at the man, no the god, laying on the surgical table and she thought of the time and effort it would take to put him back together again.

Thor had told them he was banished from Earth in mortal form, much like Thor had been; when Thor hadn't been able to find him after a few weeks he'd grown concerned, but hadn't want to alert S.H.I.E.L.D. to the fact that he was on Earth. Judging by the condition their patient was in, he'd been found not long after he'd gotten to Earth.

"Banner, can we even fix him?" she turned to her friend and fellow physician.

"Physically, sure," Banner nodded, "his mind on the other hand, I don't know."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh exited the surgical suite exhausted; they'd worked for what felt like days setting bones and either splinting or casting his injuries and she'd been in tears for most it. The only saving grace when they relocated his shoulder and jaw was that he was still unconscious and hadn't screamed. The tears were still tracking down her face as she walked into the kitchen. Tony and Steven were sitting at the table, but neither was saying anything and it was obvious they hadn't been saying much before she entered either.

"How is he?" Tony asked, his voice uncharacteristically somber.

"Broken." She whispered, her voice breaking.

Steve caught her before she hit the ground and gathered her into his arms. She sobbed against his chest. The pain in her cries tore him apart. As much as he didn't like the man they'd rescued, he disliked seeing his friend so upset even more. He slowly rubbed her back, helping her calm down.

"Where is Thor?"

"He went back to Asgard, he wanted to tell Odin that we'd found him."

Leigh nodded and slowly stood. She walked out to the balcony and hoped this would work.

"Ho Heimdall!" She took a deep breath, "Please tell Thor I have news of his brother and need to speak to him. Thank you!"

She turned around and went back inside, not sure how long it would take the Gatekeeper to deliver the message or how long it would take the God of Thunder to return to Earth. Bruce walked into the kitchen looking as exhausted and drained as she did.

"So he'll live?" Stark asked, apparently unsure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yes, he'll live." Banner announced, "Surprising, except for the broken bones and cuts and bruises, there was no damage done. I mean, obviously that's a lot of damage, but I'm rather surprised by the lack of damage to his internal organs."

Leigh couldn't handle hearing Bruce go over all of the injuries again. She wandered back to the observation room and look in on their patient.

"Oh Loki." She breathed, her eyes tearing up again. "No words will ever be enough to describe my sorrow and disgust at what has been done to you."

"Nor mine." A deep voice to her right startled her.

The man standing next to her was not Thor, it was a man she had never expected to meet, ever. His white hair brushed his collar and he sported a full beard. Tears trailed from his left eye, which she knew was the only one he had.

"All-Father." She whispered and dropped to her knees.

"You do not need to kneel to me child." He said, his voice hoarse. "You have saved my son, for that you will always have my thanks."

"We have saved his body All-Father," she choked back tears, "I fear his mind may be even further damaged by what has happened."

Odin Allfather nodded at the Midgardian's words; he knew the betrayal Loki felt over the realization that he was not Asgardian and the hatred he had for his brother's adopted world. He feared that what the humans had done to him would not endear them to his adoptive son as he had hoped time on Midgard would allow.

"You weep for my son."

"I do." She turned to face Odin, showing him her tear streaked face without shame. "I would weep for anyone forced to endure what he endured."

"Thor told me that the people you work for are the ones who did this." Odin turned to face her and she fought the urge to tremble.

"Yes All-Father." She sighed, "I did not know that they had your son or that this was what they were doing to him; it disgusts me that they would do this. I will be resigning."

Odin nodded, "you are an honorable woman."

Leigh was stunned, such a compliment from the King of Asgard did not come lightly.

"With respect All-Father, why did you come and not Thor?"

"Thor is here, he is with his friends." Odin answered, "I wished to see my son, for whether he accepts me as father or not, I still care a great deal for him."

Leigh nodded, "I understand."

The two stood in silence, watching the god made mortal lying in the other room; Leigh checked the vitals through the window and sighed. All of a sudden the monitors started going nuts and Loki started thrashing on the bed.

"Banner!" she screamed into her earpiece, "Loki's seizing!"


	2. Painful Pasts

**A/N: This chapter contains talk that may be triggering to some folks, there is talk of physical abuse and rape. If you don't think you can handle reading that skip the middle section of the chapter, I'll put lines to indicate where to stop and start reading.**

* * *

Leigh dashed into the room and checked the monitors; the god's heartbeat was well over 200bpm and the man was also moaning even though he was still clearly unconscious. Banner ran into the room and started looking over the readings coming from all the monitors and scratched the back of his neck.

"There shouldn't be anything wrong with him!" he had to nearly shout over the monitors and the god's moaning.

"He's in pain!" she yelled back, "listen to him! Could the pain be causing this?"

"Possibly!"

"Give me the morphine!" she shouted.

Leigh grabbed the syringe from Banner and slipped it in the IV, she pushed the morphine into his line and waited, holding her breath. Slowly the thrashing stopped and the moaning quieted. She set up a morphine drip to keep him comfortable and turned to Bruce, tears once again streaming down her face.

"If I ever find out who did this Bruce." She was trembling in anger, "they just better hope I never find out who did this to him."

"Not to be mean, but why do you care?"

Leigh looked at the doctor and saw honest curiosity in his eyes; "Because no one should be treated like this. I don't care what he did." She held up her hand, "I know he killed a lot of people, including Phil Coulson, but that doesn't give them the right to do this."

Leigh felt a strong presence enter the room and saw Bruce's jaw drop. She felt a hand on either shoulder and knew that the two Asgardians were flanking her.

"You would avenge my brother?" Thor's voice was soft, full of emotion.

Looking at the battered man on the bed Leigh nodded, "Yes."

"Why?" Thor seemed as confused as Bruce.

"Because he is your brother." She turned her face to look at Thor on her left hand side, "and he was treated as less than human, he was treated…like…like filth and that's not right."

"But Leigh, he is not human." Thor's voice was still soft, as if he feared waking his brother.

"So that means he's not entitled to respect?" she asked confused, "because he's from a different realm that means it's okay to do this?"

Thor shook his head, "No, I did not say it was alright for them to do it." He squeezed her shoulder, "I was simply reminding you that he, like myself, is not human."

"I'm aware of that Thor." She looked back to Loki, "I'm also aware that what was done to him was sick, twisted and uncalled for."

Unable to stop herself Leigh reached out and placed her hand on Loki's head; she gently stroked his hair, more tears sliding down her cheek.

"We were supposed to be better than this Thor."

"My son, if I may speak with you?" Odin pulled his son's attention from his friend and he followed his father from the room.

Leigh heard a light scraping and then a chair was placed by her. She turned her head and Rogers had entered the room, she hadn't even noticed Bruce leaving or him arriving while she was talking to Thor.

"You're right, S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be better than this; but we are, by rescuing him and standing up for him, we are better than those that did this." Rogers' voice was so soft that she almost didn't hear it.

She sank into the chair, keeping her hand in Loki's hair, feeling how soft and silky it was now that they had washed the blood out of it.

Stark walked into the observation room and sighed; Leigh was sitting next to Loki's bed, her hand was in his hair and her head rested next to his and she was clearly asleep. The stress of seeing her mentor being an accomplice, if not the instigator, of torture had been rough on her. Also knowing how close she was to Thor, it was clearly hard for her to see their friend in so much pain but Tony couldn't understand why she was getting so attached to Loki.

~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh came awake with a crick in her neck and steady beep in her ear. She felt something silky wrapped around her left hand and wondered what had happened. Blinking she sat up and tried not to scream.

The events of the day before rushed back to her as she stared at the battered man in front of her. She slowly slid her hand from his hair and stood up. Her stomach was rumbling so she shakily walked from the room and to the kitchen. Tony was awake and drinking coffee.

"Sleep well?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Um… yeah." She hedged grabbing her own coffee and making herself some toast.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" he asked, keeping his voice playful but serious.

"If I don't?" she turned to see Stark watching her.

"I'm worried about you kid." He said, standing up and walking over to her, "you've got this attachment to Reindeer Games…"

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" the shriek caught both Tony and the woman who screamed it off guard. "He might not be human but that doesn't give you the right to dehumanize him!"

Steve Rogers and Thor ran into the room to see Leigh hyperventilating and Tony Star stuck to the ceiling of the kitchen. Unsure what to say or do that wouldn't possibly get them in the same position they stood and stared. They had seen Leigh use her powers before, but never against a friend or co-worker, at least not until she'd pinned Fury the day before.

"Leigh, my friend," Thor walked cautiously towards her, "I am sure that Tony meant no disrespect towards my brother." Her gaze snapped to his and he was shocked at the pain and fury in her stormy gaze. "Please, release him."

Thor's voice made its way through the haze of static; she shuddered and looked up at where Tony was pinned to the ceiling. With a large shove she removed him from the ceiling and tossed him, none too gently, on to a couch in the next room. Rogers slowly walked over to check on the playboy while Thor walked towards her.

No one knew of her history, of the way that S.H.I.E.L.D. had found her; she had no idea why Fury had taken her to see Loki, if he was trying to break her again or if he'd simply forgotten the broken girl they had found all those years ago. Thor had reached her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Do you wish to speak to someone?" he asked, concern in his blue eyes.

Leigh shook her head as she collapsed to the floor; the use of that much energy and the fact that she hadn't eaten since before they'd found Loki were catching up with her. She sobbed as Thor picked her up and carried to the table. He set her in a chair and then went back to counter and grabbed the toast she had made herself.

"Eat."

Leigh glared at Thor's order but picked up the piece of toast and took a bite. Tears were still tracking down her cheeks but she needed to eat. Once she had eaten the toast she realized how hungry she was and headed back to the kitchen and made herself some eggs and a couple more pieces of toast.

Tony had stayed in the living room for most of the time she'd been eating, but when she as almost done her eggs he came back in.

"Leigh," he crouched at her side, "I'm sorry."

Leigh's head snapped to her friend, Tony never apologized.

"We're all worried about you, about your concern for Loki." He said, using the god's name. "We don't understand it, how strong your reaction is."

Leigh closed her eyes, she did not want to have this conversation. She pushed her eggs away and stood up.

"I need to go do a vitals check on the patient."

"Banner's got it covered." Tony said, taking her hand.

"Please Tony, don't do this." She begged, her voice breaking.

Rogers had walked in just as she begged for Tony to leave her alone; she turned to Steve for help but saw the same concern on his face and knew that she was on her own.

"What happened to you?" Steve's voice was soft, he was obviously uncomfortable but his concern for her was overriding that.

* * *

"I…I was…" she hiccupped through her tears, "I was abused."

All three men stiffened at her revelation; they were not happy.

"My…my mother died in childbirth." She sighed, collapsing back into her chair, "My father blamed me for her death, he was a mean drunk and he would beat me, daily." She hung her head, "I never went to school so most people didn't even know he had a child."

"Leigh, I had no idea." Tony sat next to her and took her hand between his, "How did you get out?"

"I almost didn't." She shook her head, "I was thirteen when he decided to rape me for the first time, I tried to fight back, tried to make him stop but he hit me in the head with the vodka bottle. And then kept punching me in the head as he used my body." She was shivering, "I kept thinking if I passed out, maybe I would die and then he wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore. He kept taunting me, telling me how since I'd killed my mother I deserved this. He was so heavy. I just wanted him to get off me…and then suddenly he flew off me and hit the wall."

"Your powers." Steve breathed, sitting heavily next to Tony.

* * *

"I had hit puberty and turned out I was a mutant. Daddy had the dormant gene and I got telekinesis." She shuddered, "I somehow managed to keep him against the wall as I crawled out of the room and called 911."

"They locked my dad up in a psych ward when he told the police what had happened, that's when S.H.I.E.L.D. found me." she smiled, "They sent me to this school for "gifted youngsters" where I realized I wasn't the only one like me. I finally got an education and got to train my gifts. When I graduated the head professor there offered me a position teaching at the school and Fury offered me a position with S.H.I.E.L.D., I took Fury up on his offer."

"My God." Steve looked green as he spoke, "why would he take you to see Loki if he knew your history?"

"I've been trying to figure that out myself." She sighed, "I can't think of anything except he was trying to remind me of where I came from, of how easily I could end up back there if I didn't behave."

"Been having disciplinary issues too huh?" Stark asked smirking at her.

"Yeah, well." She shrugged.

"Banner to Harris." Bruce's voice filtered into her earpiece.

"Bruce?" she wiped her eyes and tried to make her voice sound calm.

"I think our patient is waking up."


	3. Waking Up Safe

The floating feeling would not go away; though considering how much pain he'd been in before now, he couldn't really complain. He was lying down now and a series of beeps was quite annoying.

"When did he regain consciousness?" a female asked, she was just out of his line of sight.

"His eyelids started fluttering when I messaged you, they opened just before you walked in here." The voice belonged to the monster disguised as a doctor.

"Has he said anything?"

"No, he's just staring at the ceiling." Banner spoke again, "his eyes look pretty glazed, could be the morphine, we have no idea how opiates affect Asgardians."

"His vitals look good otherwise?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll take a look."

Leigh watched Loki from the corner of her eye; he had not moved in the couple minutes she'd been in the room and talked with Bruce. She slowly walked over to where the god lay and checked the machines first. She grabbed a penlight from a nearby tray and clicked it on.

"Loki, if you can hear me I'm going check your eyes. I want you to keep your eyes still for a minute." She said, keeping her voice low and soothing.

She moved the light back and forth and saw his pupils respond to the bright light normally. She smiled, that was good.

"Okay, if you can I want you to follow my finger with your eyes okay?"

She smiled again as he moved his eyes up and down, then right and finally left. When his eyes moved left they locked on hers and she nearly gasped aloud. Yes, they were glazed a bit but the haunted look hidden under the effects of the medication nearly broke her heart.

"I know you have no reason to believe me," she whispered, reaching up to stroke his hair, "but you are safe Loki. S.H.I.E.L.D can no longer hurt you and I will kill anyone who tries."

Loki's eyes fluttered closed at the soft touch in his hair. For weeks day in and day out he'd been tortured, beaten, humiliated and now, now when he thought he couldn't take anymore this silver eyed angel appeared over his broken body and promised him safety.

_This _had been what he expected the first time he'd been in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody; when he had the Tesseract he'd expected the kind of treatment he'd been receiving and then that woman would come and soothe him. Now, now he was just as mortal as those that had brutalized him and he had had no way to defend himself. He still didn't, he had no idea where he was except that he wasn't in that room, chained to a chair with his mouth forced open by an object too large for it.

Oh how excruciating the pain had been when they wrenched open his jaw and shoved the metal ball in; he had screamed, a scream that had been muffled by the metal and the thick strap of leather they'd used to bind it. Not that he would have been capable of spitting out the offensive object, as it compressed his tongue and had dislocated his jaw.

Leigh saw his eyes shut as she stroked his hair and talked to him; she knew that he had expected to be tortured the first time he'd been captured, figured Fury would come up with something and then send Romanoff in as a "balm", a kind ear and he would betray his secrets to her. She knew the proud god was too strong for that, at least he had been.

He started to shiver and a single tear leaked out of his closed right eye. Figuring he wouldn't like her to acknowledge what he would consider a weakness she left the tear alone but asked him a question.

"Are you cold sweet Prince?"

The words caressed him and he had to fight not to respond to her; he knew nothing about her or where he was, he could trust no one. He only wondered how long they would wait until her soothing tactics were clearly not working before the others returned and his torture began again.

Leigh knew he was probably assuming this was another tactic S.H.I.E.L.D. was using to break him and she knew that he had heard her talking to Dr. Banner. She sighed, gaining his trust and helping him heal was going to harder than she thought. She slowly pulled the extra blanket up over him, careful not to put too much weight on his chest. She had no idea why she'd call him "sweet Prince" but it had felt right to say it.

"I know your jaw was dislocated, but if you'd like, I can bring you something to drink." She said and his eyes snapped open. "It'll have to be that way for now, at least until the swelling goes down and you can chew. I'm sorry. You can try to nod or shake your head if you want."

His blue-green eyes locked on hers again and she felt a tremor in her stomach, even without his magic the man had a kind of magnetism to him.

"I know how hard it is to trust after enduring that kind of abuse," she whispered, watching his eyes widen, "I suffered for years and it took years for me to trust again." She reached up and caressed his scalp and hair again, "This is no trick Loki. You are in Stark Tower; Stark, Rogers and I rescued you from S.H.I.E.L.D.; we didn't know anything about what was happening to you, we've resigned."

Loki watched a tear trail down her cheek, "I know there is nothing I can say to prove to you that you can trust me, so I'm just going to have to show you." Her voice shook a little and he wondered for half a moment, if maybe he was actually safe. "I'm going to get you some water okay?"

Loki watched her walk away from the bedside and then heard water running. She walked back with the cup; it had a straw in it and she looked him in the eye before taking a sip. After waiting for around thirty seconds she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not dead, will you drink?" she asked.

He nodded slowly, his head spinning as he did so.

"Easy," she said, slowly sliding her arm under his shoulders to help him sit up.

Leigh was a bit surprised at how heavy he was, but she used a bit of a mental push to hold him up and held the straw to his lips and he slowly took a sip. She saw his eyes slide closed as he drank. She saw him struggle to push the straw from his mouth and slowly pulled it out and set him back down.

"Is that better?" she asked, seeing him nod she started running her fingers through his hair again. "Do you mind me touching you like this?"

"No." his voice was incredibly hoarse.

Leigh blinked at his response, she didn't think he'd try speaking yet. She kept stroking his hair, watching his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, keeping herself in his line of sight as she quickly scanned his monitors.

"Floa-ty." He gasped out.

"That's probably the morphine, I can knock it back if you want." She looked at the drip, "but it's controlling the pain."

She watched his eyes, they weren't as glazed as before, which she counted as a good thing. Her hand had not stopped moving in his hair and he did seem to be enjoying it.

"Loki, I swear to you, there are no words or deeds to express my sorrow and disgust at what they did to you." He could see her grey eyes shining with tears; such compassion for him, it was hard to understand, she did not know him.

"Name." he whispered, having realized he was only capable of one word at a time.

"Oh!" Leigh blinked, it hadn't occurred to her that she hadn't introduced herself. "I'm Leigh."

"Leigh." His voice rasped her name and she shivered, "Pre-tty."

Leigh blushed, "Thank you." She cleared her throat and looked at Loki, "I need to check your jaw and shoulder to make sure the swelling is going down. It's going to hurt, I'm so sorry."

Loki realized she was probably a healer of some kind and nodded slowly. Her touch was gentle as she stroked the discoloured skin on his shoulder, she was mumbling to herself as she did so.

"I need to press a little harder now, I'm sorry." She watched his eyes and saw the fear. "I'll be as quick as I can be, I promise."

The lance of pain drew a ragged gasp and then a whimper that should have been a scream as she moved his arm and pressed to check his condition. It was over in less than thirty seconds but it felt like an eternity. She was stroking his hair again as the pain receded and she was whispering an apology over and over, her cheeks were soaked with tears.

Leigh stood up and walked to the end of Loki's bed, she quickly made a few notes about his shoulder and decided to give him time to rest before she checked his jaw. She was trembling, the fear in his turquoise eyes had nearly killed her before she did her examination. To see a man, a god, who had once nearly had Manhattan on its knees brought so low by the prospect of pain, it nearly shattered her again.

"Leigh?" the raspy voice made her turn around.

"Yes Loki?" she walked back to his side and gently took his hand.

"Who?"

She swallowed thickly, knowing he was asking who had made her suffer. "My father." She saw the shock and then understanding dawn in his eyes. "He's in prison now."

"Good."

Loki was shocked that he felt glad that the man that hurt her was imprisoned. She was healer, but she had been harmed too. She held his hand so gently and her voice was amazing, it was just, so sweet it was slowly wearing him down. He knew he hadn't been awake that long but her assurances that he was safe somehow got under his skin. He carefully tightened his hand around hers, linking them together. Her grey eyes snapped to his, widening slightly.

"Loki?" she questioned, watching his face.

"Safe." He whispered, positive she heard him.

"Yes." She replied, not sure if he was asking if she was safe, if he was, or both.

Leigh noticed that his hand was quite cool but figured that probably due to his Jötun DNA; his body had read several degrees cooler since they brought him in. She stroked her thumb against his knuckles, finding herself wondering how his touch would feel, how certain other things would feel. She started to blush and shook her head to clear it; Loki's aqua eyes were looking at her with confusion as she straightened.

"I um… I need to check your jaw now." She said, "just to make sure everything is healing and also to make sure it safe for you to talk."

Loki was disappointed when she took her hand out of his, but had to fight a shiver as her fingers delicately traced the sides of his jaw; the bruises hurt a bit where she pressed on them and she was firm but gentle as she could be as she checked the outside of his jaw. She grabbed a pair of neoprene gloves and slipped them on.

"I need to check the inside of your mouth now." She said, watching his eyes, "I will need to open you jaw a bit wider then is comfortable."

Loki nodded and opened his mouth as far as he could for her, trying to make her job easier. She slid two fingers into his mouth between his left cheek and teeth and then pushed back and his mouth was forced open a bit wider. The sound he made would have embarrassed even the lowliest god and he saw her wince as she quickly pressed against his jaw the left side and moved efficiently to the right.

Leigh pulled her hand out of Loki's mouth as quickly as possible and helped him close it. She ripped the gloves off and then gently stroked the sides of his face, trying to erase and make up for the pain she had caused him. As much as she loved being a healer, she hated that sometimes she had to cause her patients pain in order to heal them. She let herself slump into the chair next to the bed and hang her head.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, "I hate that I have to cause you more pain."

Moving very gingerly Loki moved his hand and placed it on top of her head. She looked up which cause his hand to slip so that he was cupping her cheek. The feel of his cool hand against her cheek made her pulse quicken and she had to avert her eyes so he wouldn't see the things filtering through her mind.

"You um…you shouldn't really move your arm too much." She said, raising her own hand to cover his. "It could reinjure your arm."

"Want…" he sighed in frustration, the physical toll of what had been done to him weighed on him. "To…touch."

The words made Leigh a little lightheaded. She pressed her hand against his, giving him greater contact with her cheek.

"Okay." She whispered, realizing, but not caring, that this was not a good idea.


	4. Hungers

**A/N: So there is a bit of a time jump in the middle of the chapter but there is a "break" and then the time shift is mentioned. I wanted to get to a point where Loki trusts Leigh a bit more without having to spend a tonne of chapters, there will be flashbacks and soon, very soon, we will discover the identity of at least one of Loki's torturers.**

* * *

The touch of her warm skin under his cold hand was such a welcome relief but also a huge confusion. No woman had ever let him touch her, at least not more than was necessary. It embarrassed the God of Mischief to have to admit that he was still largely unskilled when it came to women. His supposed "Silver-Tongue" worked for so many things, but most women were so opposed to being with a scrawny second-born instead of a larger, strapping hero like this "brother" Thor. When Leigh covered his hand with hers he fought again the urge to shiver; he could see some kind of conflict warring in her beautiful grey eyes and the realization that he thought her eyes beautiful brought him up short. Never had he noticed a female's eyes before but hers seemed to draw him in, hold him captive as she watched him, checking the beeping monitors occasionally.

"Loki?" she whispered, not moving their hands.

"Yes?" he hated how rough his voice sounded.

"Are you hungry?" she watched his face and the naked hunger was almost painful.

"Yes." He sighed as if admitting he needed something was a great burden.

Leigh stood up and their hands slid from her face, but she did not let go of his hand. She held it gently, but firmly as she carefully moved his arm back to his side.

"I'll be back shortly, I promise." she gasped when he tightened the grip he had on her hand.

"No."

"Loki, I can't get you food if I don't leave." She said, reaching up and running her fingers through his raven locks. "I'll be gone no more than ten minutes."

The panic in his eyes killed her; it was obvious he was afraid to be alone but wouldn't admit it.

"Jarvis?" she called out to Stark's AI.

"Yes Miss Harris?" she smiled that Tony had already updated that they were not longer associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. into their designations.

"Is Miss Potts available?" she asked, gently running her fingers along Loki's hairline as he calmed.

"Yes Miss Harris."

"Could you ask her to meet me in the medical suite please?"

"Certainly." There was a slight pause, "She is on her way."

"Thank you Jarvis." She smiled down at Loki, "Hush sweet Prince, I will not leave you if I can avoid it, you need not be alone, I promise."

Loki's eyes closed and a single tear escaped; he hated himself for such weakness and disliked himself even more that his weakness was so obvious to his caregiver. He heard the door to the suite hiss open but did not open his eyes.

"Did you need something Leigh?" a woman he assumed must be Miss Potts asked.

Leigh turned to face her friend. "I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone after he started seizing last night, since we don't know for sure it was pain that caused the seizure." She smiled at her friend, while keeping Loki's hand in her grasp. "Loki is hungry though, I was wondering if you could find a couple of those ready-made protein shakes that Tony and Steve chug after their workouts?"

"I'm sure I can round a few up." She smiled, "What flavour?"

Leigh looked at Loki and then decided to just pick for him, she didn't want him to strain himself from talking, "Make it an assortment, some chocolate, some vanilla, maybe a couple strawberry."

"Sure. I'll be back soon." Pepper smiled at Leigh and left the room.

Loki felt the bed he was lying on dip slightly by his hip and hissed. "I'm sorry." She whispered, "Pepper is gone now, I'll still be here."

Loki's eyes opened and Leigh gasped again, the gratitude and embarrassment in his eyes made it feel like she'd been punched in the gut. She slowly, gently reached out to cup his cheek.

"You tell me if this hurts." She told him, resting her warm hand on his cool cheek.

The light moan that Loki made was clearly not one of pain and the look in his eyes was one of shock and, dare she think it, lust.

"Leigh." His voice was ragged as he looked at the vixen in front of him.

A stray lock of hair had escaped her ponytail and he tried not to flinch as he saw the strawberry colour of her hair.

"Loki?" she saw his eyes flash with fear as her hair came loose and she quickly bound it back, which made her lose contact with the petrified god. "It's okay, I'm here."

"Red." He said, his eyes locked on her hair.

"Yes." She nodded and then it dawned on her that one of his tormentors may have had red hair; she made a mental note to get Tony to look into how many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had red hair.

Pepper returned with a tray of shakes and set them on the table next to Loki's bed. The god still looked horrible, but he was awake and that was a large improvement.

"Leigh, you got a second?" she asked, watching the way Loki was looking at her friend.

"Sure." Leigh looked at Loki, "I'll be just outside." She motioned to the door, "you'll be able to see me."

Loki nodded and Leigh joined Pepper outside.

"What's up?" she asked Pepper.

"Be careful." Pepper said, eyeing Loki through the door, his eyes hadn't left Leigh.

"Careful of what?" Leigh asked, she was confused.

"Psychologists call it transference."

"You mean when a patient or client of a health care professional mistakes gratitude for something deeper?" Leigh asked, "Yeah, I learned about it in school. I'll be careful, but right now he is scared and hurting and I am the only one in this building who knows what he's going through. If he needs me right now, I'll be there for him." She sighed, "it will also help me earn his trust to find out who did this to him and maybe open up about what actually happened." She looked back at the man on the bed, "Plus, the more he trusts me, the easier he'll let me examine him to keep an eye on how he's healing."

Pepper nodded, glad her friend had thought things through and was being careful. "Alright, just wanted to make sure you were aware of everything." She smiled, "Anything else you need?"

"He'll probably want another pair of pants soon." Leigh said, "those jeans can't be comfortable. I'd guess he's a thirty inch waist, probably a thirty-four inseam. Also, can you ask Tony to run a check for all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with red hair?"

"Sure I'll get right on that." Pepper smiled, "for the pants, track pants or pyjama bottoms?"

"Get a pair or two of each if you can, I'm not sure how long he'll be bed ridden, especially with the leg casts." Leigh sighed, "I'd better get back."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

A few weeks later Leigh was looking over Loki's x-rays and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of healing that was had been done in that time. Most of his ribs were healing well and most of the swelling in his two dislocated joints was gone. She looked over at him, lying on the bed in only a pair of the pyjama pants that Pepper had picked up. Leigh had been right about his sizing and the pj pants fit loosely over his casts.

"Any discomfort today?" she asked, looking up at him.

"No, thank you." He responded, his voice had gotten stronger over the last few weeks.

Leigh was happy to see some patches of his natural skin tone peeking through the masses of bruising on his chest and even on few places on his face. She tapped a few places on the screen and saved the information to Loki's file and then walked towards the god.

"How are your legs feeling?" she asked, rolling up the pant legs.

"Itchy." He glared at her a bit, "When can I remove those blasted contraptions?"

"I told you Loki, the bones could take six to eight weeks to heal and if we remove the casts too soon, the bones could shift and we've have to break them all over again." She watched the anger and then fear flash through his eyes. "I know my Prince," she stroked his hair again, "I know how much this bothers you, but I promise, it will be better in the long run."

"Why do you call me that?" he asked, grabbing her hand and holding it close to his still abused looking chest.

"Call you what?" she asked, trying not to stroke a bare spot on his chest.

"Prince." He said, his eyes heating up, "You use that term as if it still applied to me."

"How do you know it does not?" Leigh responded keeping her eyes locked with his.

"I am not a prince."

"You are to me." she said, giving into the urge to stroke his chest.

She felt him shiver at her touch and couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Does that hurt?" she watched his eyes.

"Not in the way you would imagine." He sighed, his eyes darkening as she made the gentle circles.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No."

"Do you need me to stop?" she noted the strain in his voice.

"Yes."

Leigh stilled her hand but couldn't make herself remove it from his chilled chest. He placed his hand on top of hers.

"I would that I didn't need you to." His voice was deeper than she was used to.

"You need to recover, I understand." She could feel his heart thumping against her palm.

"Your friends worry for you." He whispered, his eyes lowering from hers a moment.

"I know they do." She gently touched the side of his face with her free hand. "But I don't care, this is my life and if I choose to spend my time with you, that's what I'll do."

"But I am broken." The fact that Loki would even admit that showed Leigh exactly how broken he was, but also how much he trusted her.

"We can fix you." She said, moving her hand from his cheek to his thigh.

"Who fixed you?" he asked, watching her closely.

"An amazing man who is sadly no longer with us." She said, thinking of her mentor at the school. "He had an amazing gift." She smiled, "he was a telepath; try as I might, I couldn't lie to him, he showed me things about myself that I never imagined."

Loki watched the sadness in her eyes as she spoke of his man; it was clear that he was very important to her and it saddened him that the loss of him hurt her.

"Why would you fix me?"

She had avoided talk of his brother, though Loki no longer considered him such, because she did not want to upset him and possibly ruin the trust they had, but she knew she needed to be honest.

"Originally, I wanted to find you as a favour to your brother who has been a good friend to me," she could see the rage and hurt in his eyes, "but when I saw what they had done to you, I knew deep within, that we are two kindred souls and that I alone would be able to help you through what had happened." She slid her hand into his hair; "Now Loki, I would help heal you because you matter to me; you have opened yourself to me and allowed me to open myself to you."

She watched Loki's eyes drift closed at her touch and heard him sigh. She rubbed his scalp for him, earning a soft moan. She let her hand drift through his hair and down the back of his neck and along the sides. She watched goose bumps break out along his skin and saw his lips part gently, his breath coming a bit harsher. She froze with her fingers where his neck met his right shoulder, she didn't want to hurt him.

"Please…" his voice was ragged.

"Please what?" she asked him, watching the pain and desire on his face.

"More." He whispered, his eyes opening looking as deep and dark as the sea.

Leigh would never understand what drew her to her next action, but she gently stroked Loki's neck and leaned closer until she could feel his breath against her lips.

"Yes…" the word was so soft if she hadn't been close she wouldn't have heard it.

Leigh cupped the back of Loki's head gently and touched her lips to his; their coolness wasn't as much of a shock as she would have thought, but the sudden stab of desire at the contact did. His lips pressed back against hers tentatively and she angled her head slightly so they could feel more of each other. The press and release of two people learning each other for the first time was intense.

Loki was in turmoil, the things this mortal woman made him feel were wholly unknown to him. He a god of Asgard, the man who should be King above all, brought to his metaphorical knees by a human. Her fingers traced paths of fire against his neck while her lips stroked and teased his own. He lifted his right arm to cup her cheek and swore he heard her moan at the touch of his cool skin. Why the Allfather had left his skin so cold while he was mortal was not something he wanted to think about, but Leigh seemed to enjoy his touch.

Leigh slowly pulled back from Loki even though she didn't want to; she could see the lust and confusion in his eyes and knew that as much as they might be drawn to each other, neither of them were ready for what that attraction could lead to.

"Stark to Harris, you got a few minutes?"

Leigh looked at Loki, he'd been okay with her leaving him alone for short periods of time the last couple days.

"How long do you need Tony?"

"I've finished that search you asked for, thought you'd want to go over the list."

"How long?"

"Half an hour, maybe?"

"Fine." She sighed, "I'll meet you in your office in five." She gently stroke Loki's cheek. "I'll be back soon as I can be, I promise."

The god nodded and she turned and left the room, hoping Tony had gotten them one step closer to figuring out who had hurt the man she had just left.


	5. Revelations and Grief

**Alrighty people...the reveal is just lines away...not sure if I've made it too obvious or not, but I hope it makes sense when you read it. I am having so much fun digging around in Loki's head LOL...there is going to be a lot of do they/don't they and will they/won't they in the next few chapters :) Enjoy and please remember, reviews are Muse food, the more she gets the more she wants to write :)**

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"No, it's not possible." Leigh shook her head at Tony.

"Look Leigh, I don't want to believe it either." Tony sighed, "but we have to face the facts that of all the people on the list, she is the only one with a grudge against Loki and the skills to break bones but not hurt anything else."

Leigh shook her head again, "I can't believe it, I won't believe it Tony." She was shaking, "It doesn't make sense, I don't care what Loki said or did to her, she'd never do that."

"Leigh, the only other person that fits the description with the skills needed," Tony hesitated, "is you."

Steve Rogers walked in and saw Leigh trembling; he quickly drew her into protective hug and glared at Stark.

"What did you say?"

"Leigh asked me to check how many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have red hair, I took it one step further and narrowed the list to who would have the skills to torture Loki and get the results we saw."

"There was only two people on the list Steve." She whispered and he could tell she was crying.

"Who?" Steven pulled back and looked at her.

"Me and…"

~A~A~A~A~A~

Sleep had descended upon Loki unawares and in the grip of sleep he was back in the cold room where he'd been abused.

_The door slid open and a curvy figure with bright red hair walked in. She was smiling, but it was not a kind smile. Loki began to jerk and thrash against his bonds, he knew this was causing himself more pain and doing more damage to his already battered and bruised body, but he did not seem capable of controlling his actions. She walked around the back of his chair and slid her hand into his hair. Her grip tightened until it was painful and then she jerked his head back. A pair of soft lips rested against his ear._

"_Who's the mewling quim now?"_

"Loki!" Leigh dashed into the room and tried to decide how to help the trashing man. "Loki, please, wake up!"

Jarvis had alerted her to the fact that Loki had started flailing on the bed and screaming in his sleep and she'd left Rogers and Stark before the words had finished. It was clear that he was in the midst of a nightmare or flashback dream, but she was afraid he was going to injure himself again.

Using as little power as possible she grabbed his wrists and pulled them back to his sides; the finer uses of her telekinesis had always been the most draining for her and so she tended to avoid them, but for Loki, she would endure it. She focused on getting his legs still next, holding him still with the least amount of forced possible. When she was sure he wasn't going to hurt himself she walked closer to the bed, his head still trashed on the pillow and he was still screaming. She got to the bed as quickly as she could and sat on his right side so she wouldn't jostle his bad shoulder.

"Loki, wake up, you're having a nightmare, come on my Prince, wake up." She had to speak pretty loud to get over his screaming.

"NOOOO!" the word ripped from his throat as he jerked back to consciousness.

Leigh released her hold on him the same instant and he jerked up in bed before screaming again as he strained his ribs. Leigh grabbed him and held him still. She slid her hand to the back of his neck and felt him stiffen.

"Shhh, it's okay my prince." She whispered, placing her other hand on his trembling back.

His arms wrapped around her and he buried his face into the neck; she held him close and soothed him with her touch and her words. He had never been brought so low before; even when The Other and his Master had been training him while in exile he had never felt his weak or powerless.

"You are safe my prince, I won't let anyone hurt you." Her voice was like that of an angel and he had to wonder, yet again, why she would use it to soothe such a devil as he.

She held him as he trembled and nearly screamed when she felt the heat of his tears soaking through her shirt. She gently stroked his hair feeling him slowly stop trembling, but then his shoulders still shook as he cried.

"Jarvis, are the camera's still running?"

"No miss, I turned them off when you entered the room." The AI replied, "I can erase the few minutes before your return if you'd like."

"Yes." She said, knowing that Loki would be mortified if anyone else witnessed his breakdown.

"It is done."

She thanked the AI and then slowly rocked the man in her arms; his tears were nearly scorching, which for a man with such cold skin was shocking. She whispered in his ear as she tried to calm him down some more. Leigh was never sure how long she held and comforted the god of mischief but eventually he leaned back from her and she met his eyes.

Loki has been so sure that she would run from him at this sign of weakness, but she had not. She held him, soothed him, spoke to him and let him have the release that his body craved. She did not look at him with disgust or pity, she looked at him with concern and understanding.

"I still have nightmares about the night I escaped my father." She whispered, "it was a few days after my thirteenth birthday. I don't celebrate my birthday now, it just brings back bad memories." The pain in her eyes touched his heart, something he never thought possible.

"I remember who hurt me," he said, "I saw her this time, heard her voice."

"This time?" Leigh leant back and watched him, "I didn't know you'd been having nightmares."

"I have had flashes of remembrance." He said, "no details though."

Leigh was shaking, she wanted to know who had hurt him, but she was scared at the same time.

"You said it was a woman." Her voice was trembling too.

"Yes." There was apprehension in his voice, "I do not wish to hurt you."

"Loki, whoever she is, she tortured you, abused your body and possibly your mind for weeks. Please, you can trust me, whoever it was, they are no friend of mine." She took his hand and stroked his knuckles again.

"May I tell you my dream?" he asked, he was clearly still hesitant to tell her.

"Of course."

"I was in the room, it's always the room." His eyes were haunted as he spoke, "the door opened and she entered, she was smiling, but it was not a kind smile."

Leigh was trembling as he told her of the redheaded woman walking to the room and then walking behind him to pull his hair and whisper in his ear.

"What did she say?" Leigh was extremely pale as she asked.

"_Who's the mewling quim now?_"

"Oh god."

Leigh ran from the room, found a garbage can and threw up. She retched until it felt like she was trying to throw up her stomach lining. She collapsed next to the can and sobbed. She hadn't wanted to believe it, not of her friend.

She was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees, and sobbing when Stark and Rogers found her. Her eyes were staring at the wall and she did not blink when they got close.

"Leigh?" Steve's voice barely penetrated the cloud of pain that Loki's revelation had created.

"It was her." She sobbed, not looking at either man, "Oh god Tony, you were right."

"Shit."

Leigh felt Steve slip his arms under her knees and around her shoulders. He picked up the petite ginger and took her back to her room. He laid her on the bed and sat by her side as she cried. He could tell she was in pain, but he knew the anger would soon follow. It was obvious to everyone that she had gotten attached to Loki in the three weeks he'd been at Stark Tower.

Loki was furious; he was trapped in the room and had no idea where Leigh was or if she was okay. He felt a great loathing for telling her of his dream. It was quite obvious that she knew who he spoke of and that it had hurt her, the one thing that he had told her he did want to do.

The door of his room opened and Banner walked in. Loki wanted to sneer but he hoped to find out if Leigh was okay and if he angered the good doctor it was unlikely he would provide answers.

"Are you feeling okay?" Banner asked, bringing up his charts on one of their touch screens.

"I am well enough." He said, watching the doctor go over the charts.

"That's good." Banner checked the x-rays that Leigh had taken earlier. "Your ribs are almost healed, that's really good."

"Dr. Banner, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure, I guess, I mean I can't really stop you."

"Well, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but Miss Harris usually checks on my progress." Loki shifted a bit uncomfortably, "Why is she not here?"

"She's resting." Banner's voice was tense.

"Is she okay?" Loki's heart clenched at the thought that she was not.

"I'm not sure, all I was told is that Rogers and Stark found her in the hall, she wasn't feeling well." Banner watched the self-loathing in the god's eyes. "You want to talk about it?"

Loki shook his head; he was suddenly very tired but afraid to sleep. He closed his eyes, hoping the good doctor would get the hint and leave. Loki heard the doors hiss open and then closed and he sighed. He needed to know if Leigh was okay.

~A~A~A~A~A~

Steve looked at his friend as her sobbing slowed and she fell into an exhausted sleep. Stark was leaning against the wall next to the door and both men sighed. They knew that Leigh and Natasha Romanoff had been close ever since the younger redhead had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. For her to find out that her friend was capable of such horrendous actions, it must be killing her inside. Steve covered her with the blanket folded at the end of the bed and signalled to Tony that they should talk outside.

"Tony, you know if Nat was there then Clint probably was too." Steve said as they walked down the hall and got in the elevator to go up to the kitchen.

"I know." Tony sighed as he leaned against the elevator wall, "What I don't get is why? I mean I know they both have grudges against Loki, but it's just too extreme. Why now, when he's mortal, breakable, helpless, and is no threat to our planet?"

"I don't know Stark, it makes no sense." Steve shook his head, the world had changed a lot in seventy years, and then organization that he worked for had changed too much too quickly.

~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh slowly surfaced to consciousness and realized that she was curled up on her bed; she looked at the clock and realized it was still quite late, or early depending on how you looked at it. Her breakdown the day before had a price and her body was stiff from the cry and from being curled up all night. She slowly stretched and moved so she was sitting on the edge of her bed. She hung her head as the despair she felt threatened to crush her. She had seen the tapes of Nat's first encounter with Loki, she'd seen the way she manipulated him while letting him think that he was manipulating her; however, she had also seen that Loki had in fact hit a sore spot or two with how much he knew about her. Leigh slowly came to the realization that if Nat was there, it was quite possible that Clint had been involved too, he had a similar skill set to Nat. Oh how that would burn Loki, to have a man he used to control being used to beat him.

Anger so deep it made the fury she felt on the day she found him look like a temper tantrum hit her so suddenly all she could do was fall to her knees and bellow in rage. She clenched her eyes and screamed until she was pretty sure she made her throat bleed. Her ears were buzzing and she was pretty glad that all the furniture in her bedroom was bolted to the floor as a pillow went flying across the room. Charles had always admonished her for losing control when she was angry, but right now she figured screaming and throwing a few pillows was better than finding those responsible for hurting the god she loved and ripping them apart.

Leigh suddenly stopped screaming as she realized the thought had flashed through her mind. Love, was it love? Could she have fallen for Loki that quickly or was she falling victim to transference; they were around each other almost constantly, there was a definite sexual attraction but did that mean there was love as well. Her head spun and she felt the room tilt.

"Jarvis…help." She managed to gasp before the darkness took over.


	6. I Never Want to Hurt You

**Wow, that last chapter sucked! So now we know at least one of the people that tortured Loki and there's another "suspect"...stuff's going to get more complicated now :)**

* * *

For the second time Leigh opened her eyes and realized she was in bed; her throat was throbbing and four very worried looking men stood at her bedside. She went to stretch and her hand pinched; looking down she noticed and IV and followed it up to a bag of fluids and then looked at Banner.

"You had blood trickling from your mouth when we found you." He said, "after the first twelve hours we put the IV in to make sure you didn't get dehydrated."

"First twelve hours?" her voice was hoarse and Steve handed her a cup of water.

The coolness felt good but she was still concerned by Banner's information.

"You've been out almost three days." He said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "We were just about to call your old school, find out if this ever happened when you were a kid."

"A couple times." She answered honestly, "but never for longer than six hours."

"The room was a mess when we came in, anything that hadn't been bolted down was against a wall." Tony said, watching her like a hawk, "what the hell happened?"

Leigh took another sip from her water and sighed, "You know the stages of grief?"

"Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance?" Stark rhymed them off, "sure what about them?"

"Well, I'd already hit denial, I skipped to bargaining and depression but when I woke up from the state you found me in the other day, I launched back into anger." She slowly sat up, "Bruce, I'm pretty sure you can take the IV out now."

The doctor walked closer and slowly removed the needle and put a bandage on her hand. He slid his hand up to her wrist and checked her pulse.

"You gave us all quite a scare." He said, his brown eyes still showing some of that concern. "It's a good thing you were able to call out to Jarvis."

"Yeah." Leigh leaned back against the pillows but then quickly shot up again. "Oh god, Loki."

Bruce grabbed her shoulders, "He's fine."

"No, you don't understand, he'll be blaming himself." She pushed his hands away, "he told me he was worried about hurting me if he told me who had tortured him; I told him that wouldn't happen but I bolted from the room when he told me and then I…I had one of my attacks, please, I have to see him."

Bruce saw the tears in her eyes and looked to Tony and Steve, both men nodded so he stepped out of her way and let her get out of bed. They'd left the shirt she was wearing on but her jeans were on a chair.

"Can you give me a minute to change please?"

The men left and Leigh quickly got changed, she felt horrible for the way she'd reacted to Loki's news. As she drew her black jeans back on a couple of tears trickled down her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away. She pulled the shirt she'd been wearing for the past few days off and grabbed her favourite green button down and slid her feet into her running shoes.

She was shaking by the time she got to Loki's room; she peaked into the window and noticed he was either sleeping or was resting with his eyes closed and the bed was set so he was in a mostly sitting position. Most of the bruising on his face had faded to greens and yellows, which made him look sickly instead of abused. There were still some darker patches on his shoulders and what she could see of his chest since it was mostly covered with a blanket. She squared her shoulders and stepped to the doors, which slid open automatically. Loki didn't move, he showed no emotion on his face and she realized that after three days, he must be expecting Banner. She walked to this side and slowly reached out; as she took his hand his eyes snapped open and he turned his head to look at her.

"Leigh?" he watched, seeming unsure if it was actually her.

"Yes." She gently squeezed his hand, "I'm so sorry."

"It is I who should be apologizing to you." He would not look her in the eye, "I clearly distressed you the other day."

"Loki, my prince, look at me, please." She reached out with her free hand to stroke his cheek.

Slowly his sea coloured eyes met hers and the pain there took her breath away momentarily.

"You have nothing to apologise for." She sat on the edge of the bed, placing his hand in her lap, her eyes never leaving his, "I had Tony search S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personnel files after I saw your reaction to my hair colour, there were only two people that have red hair and the skills to inflict the type of torture on you that you endured."

"Who?" Loki wasn't sure why he was trying to distract him, he knew he was to blame for her distress, why would she not accept his apology.

"Myself." She saw him flinch, "but Fury knows I would never do that kind of thing even though I have the skill set." She took a deep breath, "The only other person on the list was Agent Romanoff, but because Nat has been my friend since my first day at S.H.I.E.L.D. I didn't want to believe that she would do this to you, regardless of your history with her."

"You suspected that Agent Romanoff was responsible?"

"Yes." She sighed, "but I was in denial. When you told me what she said to you, I knew that it really was her and well, yes, the knowledge did hurt, but not in the way you're thinking." She gently stroked his cheek, "It is not your fault, you did only what I asked you to."

"But Dr. Banner said you were ill." Loki sounded like a lost boy when he said that.

"Sometimes, usually when I'm very angry, I have trouble controlling my powers." She lightly rubbed her thumb along his cheekbone, "it uses a lot of energy in a very short time and it takes me time to recover. This is the worst it's ever been. The anger I felt when I realized that a woman who had been my friend for nearly five years had hurt the man, the god, that I care so deeply about, I've never felt anything like it."

"You…you care deeply for me?" the shock and confusion in his voice broke her heart, the pain and doubt in his eyes were almost too much to take.

"Yes Loki," she brought his hand up from her lap and placed it against her chest, where her heart beat, "I care very deeply for you. My heart aches thinking of what happened to you."

Feeling her heart beat under his hand and her hand on his cheek Loki was slightly overwhelmed; he watched the truth in her grey eyes and felt his own heart skip a beat.

"I find that I care for you as well Leigh." He said, unsure what about her made him so willing to open up. "It is unlike anything I have ever experienced; the pain in my heart when I thought I had hurt you, it was almost unbearable."

"You didn't hurt me, I promise." she slowly slid her hand so that her thumb was resting on the corner of his mouth, "The knowledge that someone who had been my friend was the one who hurt you, that hurt, but that was not of your doing, we would have figured it out soon enough."

She watched his eyes darken as she moved her hand along his face, she couldn't get the kiss they'd shared out her mind. As she slid her thumb along his lower lip she felt it tremble and his eyes fluttered closed.

"Leigh…" his voice was breathy, "What is this fire you stir inside me?"

Leigh leaned closer and his hand slid from her chest, but he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close. Their lips were hovering millimeters apart, their breaths mingling.

"It is probably the same that you stir in me my prince." Leigh said and then sealed her lips to his.

Loki groaned as the heat of her lips pressed against his; he had been so cold for so long, even before he'd found out about his Jötun blood he'd felt cold and numb inside, but Leigh lit a fire deep within him that seemed about to burn him alive. He gingerly moved his left arm to hold the back of her neck as he slid his tongue out to lick her lips.

Leigh moaned as she felt Loki licked her lips and she opened her mouth to him, gently licking his lips in return, coaxing greater passion from him. She felt like he was wrapped around her as he held her close to his cool body, but there was nothing cold about the way he held her tight and began to plunder her mouth. She slid her hands into his hair and just held on while the kiss heated up and her body responded to the feel of him.

Loki groaned as he plunged his tongue into her hot mouth over and over; if he had not known better he would have sworn he had died and gone Valhalla. This vixen in his arms was healing him, she was helping to heal his body but more than that, she was healing what he had felt could never be healed, his heart and soul.

Panting the god and the healer pulled apart and rested their foreheads against one another. She gently caressed his scalp as he stroked her neck with his nimble fingers.

"Loki…" her voice was soft, but had a slight tremble to it.

"Yes?" he feared she was regretting letting the monster touch her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

Leigh placed a quick and gentle kiss against his lips, "Good." She pulled back to watch his eyes, "I never want to hurt you."

"Nor I you."


	7. Easing the Agony

**A/N: Wow! So excited you all like this so much! SMUT WARNING! There is some smut in this chapter, it's not much but it's start. Hope you all keep enjoying! Also, please remember, reviews are Muse food, the more she gets, the more she writes!**

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Leigh walked into Loki's room and smiled at him; it had been six weeks since they'd found him and they were ready to do another set of x-rays and see if his legs were healed enough for him to move from hard casts to air casts.

"Good morning Loki."

"Good morning Leigh." He smiled back at her, "you seem quite happy this morning."

"I am." She walked to the bed and placed a gentle kiss on his now clear cheek, "How is my prince this morning?"

"I am happy you are here." He raised his hand and stroked her cheek. "I miss you when you are not with me."

Leigh's eyes closed slowly and then opened with incredible emotion behind them. "I miss you too." She pressed her lips to his forehead, "I need to take some x-rays of your legs."

"Certainly, do what you need to do."

The x-rays didn't take long, but she looked at the results and a huge smile broke over her face; the bones were healed to the point where they could take the casts off and not risk any other issues.

"Harris to Banner."

"Go ahead."

"I'm looking at the newest x-rays, Loki is ready to have his casts removed." She watched his face as she broke the news to Banner and the grin on his face was priceless.

She left the x-rays up for Bruce to look at when he walked into the room and walked over to Loki; she brushed a lock of hair off his forehead and smiled.

"Once we get the plaster casts off, we'll wash your legs and then put the air casts on." She could not stop smiling, "The air casts will keep your legs straight for the next two weeks but you'll be able to get out of bed and maybe start walking again.

He had been held immobile in a chair for three weeks and then had to be in a bed with his legs in casts for another six, the news that he would soon be able to be mobile again made him feel more like himself. He watched her hands as she pulled back the blanket covering him and then roll up the legs of his pants.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh was shocked again by how hairless Loki's body was. Even after six weeks in a cast there wasn't a trace of hair on his legs. The casts had come off and Banner left them alone, he seemed to know that he was no longer needed. Leigh put the cloth she was using back in the tub of warm water to rinse it out.

Loki was watching her in awe; she had cared for him so much in the past six weeks and here she was again, bathing him, soothing him after his long rest. She wrung the rag out and started to rub his leg again.

"Leigh."

"Am I pressing to hard?"

"No," he watched her eyes rise to his and she took a deep breath.

Leigh saw the look in his eyes and put the rag back in the tub and walked closer to him; she placed her hand on his cheek, stroking his high cheekbone with her thumb.

"Am I causing you pain?" she smirked at him as she said it.

Loki had been growing bolder over the past few weeks and he grabbed her wrist and slid her hand down his chest and stomach; he was panting by the time he forced her hand to the edge of his sweatpants and the dark need in his eyes took her breath away.

"I am in agony my sweet healer." He held her hand against the taut plain of his stomach; "is there not some way you could ease me?"

Leigh moved until she had her lips against his ear; she slowly made circles with her captive fingers on his stomach, feeling the muscles twitch under her touch. Loki made a noise low in this throat.

"Moan for my touch my prince," she kept her voice low, breathy, "let me hear your need."

Loki was trembling, partially with rage, how dare she order him around; he also trembled with need of her, his hand fell from her wrist, yet she moved only her fingers across his stomach. The agony in his loins intensified when her soft, warm tongue slid along the shell of his ear and then, he did moan.

Leigh heard the noise and shivered; to have such control over such a powerful man was intoxicating.

"Please…" the word was so strained that she felt bad for teasing him.

Leigh slipped her hand under the waistband of his pants and felt him tense. She kept sliding her hand down and felt him trembling.

"This will not hurt, I promise you." She kept her lips against his ear, "if it does or it gets too much, you tell me and I will stop."

"Do not stop." His voice was shaky.

Leigh let her hand drift south and slowly wrap around the firm length of his erection, making him groan. Her hand barely fit around him and she gave a slow steady stroke to the tip and back down. He was hard as iron and cool to the touch and Leigh longed for more; she wished she could see his cock, see if it matched the pale skin on the rest of his body; she wanted to taste him, feel him in her mouth.

Loki's body felt like it was on fire as she stroked him; the agony was exquisite, she caressed him firmly and at a steady pace. He could not stop himself from moaning and gently pumping his hips.

"Is this where your pain is my prince?" she whispered in his ear, "Does my touch ease you?"

"Yesssss." The word hissed out of his mouth.

"Would you like more?" she whispered again, tightening her grip a bit as he moaned.

"Please…"

Leigh nipped at his earlobe and sped up her strokes; she could feel his skin heating under her touch as he bit his lip to keep from being too loud.

"Oh please sweet prince, do not hide your passion from me." she spoke to him as he would speak to her and he panted louder.

"Leigh, please." His voice shook, "Do not tease me so."

Leigh let him feel her smile as she gave him what he wanted. She watched his face as his moans got louder.

"Let it go my love," she whispered, caught up in the moment, "come for me."

Loki heard her words and could no more ignore them than his body's need to eat; he pushed his hips forward as she stroked down and felt the tremble just before his body exploded.

Leigh watched his face, saw the moment where things got too much and then watched his back arch as he cried her name and his cock erupted in her hand. She lightened her strokes, knowing he would be hypersensitive but kept the motion going, guiding him through the pleasure, feeling him coat his pants and her hand with his essence.

Shaking and shuddering from more feelings than he could name, Loki lay on the bed as she slowly removed her hand from his slowly softening cock and withdrew her hand from his pants. He was breathing heavy; no woman had ever made him feel this way and he was shocked and more than a little scared at how he felt right now.

Leigh slid her hand into the tub of warm water and picked up the rag; carefully she cleaned him, knowing it couldn't be comfortable with the cooling seed lying against his skin. When she was done she forced herself to work on finishing washing his legs. Loki was silent as she did this; he seemed to be thinking hard about what had happened and she was as well.

Loki's mind was a whirl of emotions; the pleasure she had given him was incredible but she had hurried to clean him off herself, not that he could blame her, he wouldn't want to have the essence of a monster on him either. She finished cleaning his legs but did not speak to him; he wondered if she regretted touching him; he had felt how cold his own seed was on his skin, it was unlikely she would welcome that kind of discomfort.

Leigh dumped the water down the sink and sighed; they needed to get him in a clean pair of pants and get the air casts on, but she wasn't sure how she would handle seeing him naked. What she had seen of his body thus far was incredible and the feel of his cock in her hand had her aching for release like she had given him.

She saw the conflict on his face and decided she needed to talk to him.

"Loki?" she sat next to him on the bed and waited for him to look at her, "Can we talk about what just happened?"

"I was out of line, I apologize, it will not happen again." His words were quick but his voice was raw.

"What if I want it to?"

His eyes snapped back to hers and he looked shocked. "Why would you want that?"

"Because I desire you." She said, sliding her hand behind his neck and pulling him closer to herself, "Because hearing your moans, feeling you spill yourself across my hand has aroused me to the point where now I am the one in pain my sweet prince. There is a fire burning in me that I fear only you can put out."

"How?" his voice still sounded pained, "how can I bring about such feelings in you when you were so quick to rid yourself of me?"

Leigh sat stunned; she had not realized that a man who had held such power, had such little self-worth, a condition probably made worse by his capture and torment. She stared into his eyes, showing him how she felt for him.

"Rid of you how my prince?" she played with his hair as she spoke.

"You were quick to cleanse my seed from your skin." The embarrassment in his eyes broke her heart.

Leigh slid her hand to cup his jaw and leaned closer to him; she placed her lips against his ear and felt him shiver, "There was dirt and lint from the pants mingled with your essence my lovely prince, had I a choice, I would have taken you in my mouth to taste your seed as I pleased you."

The deep intake of breath at her words burned a path of desire through her body.

"You would accept me thusly?" he asked as she drew back and looked at his face.

"I would."

She could see something in him shatter at her words; he pulled her close and held her so gently that something in her broke as well and she rested her head against his neck.

"I love you."


	8. Changing Emotions

**A/N: Okay, so the last chapter was fun to write, the ending shocked even me! LOL! This is the fall out of the last chapter so um...it's a bit short but it gets the job done...please don't kill me.**

* * *

The soft words shocked them both.

"You love me?"

Leigh watched the confusion slide across the Loki's face; she'd been so caught up in the moment the words had left her mouth before she even realized it. She closed her eyes and a single tear slid down her cheek. The cool touch that wiped the tear from her cheek lingered.

"Leigh, please look at me."

She forced herself to look up at him; his blue-green eyes were swirling with emotions, shock and confusion being the two she could easily identify. It made her heart ache that he could be confused about her feelings for him.

"How?" he whispered, "I am a monster."

Leigh ran her hand through his raven locks and sighed, "You are handsome, there is a quiet strength in you." She ran her hand down his lithe arm, "You have opened yourself to me in way I never thought another person would. You let me help you and in turn that helps me," she took his hand in hers. "You are not a monster Loki, you have been mistreated and betrayed by those that should have loved and protected you. You were used by a force so powerful that it frightens me to think of it. You were punished by being sent here and then tortured body and mind for weeks. _You_ are not the monster Loki."

Hearing her speak of him that way made his chest feel funny; no one had ever stood up for him or understood the way it felt to be treated as he had. Oh this silver eyed fox, she had wormed her way into his mind and she was slowly settling into his heart. He used his free hand to trace her jaw before gently grasping the back of her neck and pulling her close. He settled his lips against hers and slowly made love to her mouth with his own.

Leigh was overwhelmed as Loki kissed and licked at her lips before slipping between them and stroking her mouth slowly and achingly sweet. The hand in his hair slid to his shoulder and gripped tightly. He grunted and angled his head to allow him to move deeper into her.

Leigh's brain was mush by the time Loki slowly released her. She sat on the side of his bed trembling with emotion and an overwhelming need. She knew her eyes were probably glazed with lust but she didn't care. She wanted him to see how much she desired him, how his kiss affected her.

"You may love this pleasing mortal form, but what happens if the true monster makes itself known?" Loki sneered at her and she nearly fell off the bed she jerked back from his abrupt mood change so quickly. "What happens when I am no longer mortal? When I can come to you with eyes red as blood, my skin blue and so cold it's like ice trailing along your skin, what then my sweet healer?"

Leigh forced herself to feet, she was trembling but she wasn't sure why. Was it fear of the man he spoke of becoming, was it fear of losing him as he slowly regained his confidence and power or was it, gods help her, desire.

"I see the fear in your eyes Leigh, I may not be a monster right now, but wait, just wait; I am the thing Asgardians warn their children about at night. I may kiss you and let you ease my suffering because I need you right now, but when I am once more a god, we'll see if your opinion changes."

Leigh was stunned, how had he changed so much is such a short amount of time, it just didn't make sense. She was shaking now but it was from anger.

"If you think me so shallow, perhaps I have mistaken the kind of man you are." She sighed, "I will have Dr. Banner come into assist you with getting the air casts on and perhaps finish cleaning you up."

Leigh turned and walked out of the room, trying to fight the urge to cry. She radioed Banner to finish helping Loki, explaining that he wanted to change pants before the air casts went on. Banner said he'd take care of it, but it was obvious he was confused. She walked back to her room, keeping her eyes down and just tried to get back to her room without seeing anyone.

Much to her surprise she was successful; she closed the door and then leaned back against it before sliding to the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead on them. In more pain than she thought possible, Leigh Harris cried herself to sleep for the second time in a week.


	9. Changing Minds

**A/N: yes, I know, bad Loki! Pushing Leigh away like that after they'd just shared something so… um… "beautiful." But there is a reason and hopefully it'll be explained soon. Sometimes Muse tosses me a curveball and I have to try and deal with it, well, God of Mischief & Lies…I was afraid we'd painted ourselves into a corner, but I think I've figured it out. So here's the next chapter :) Also, thank you to all those have follow/favourite and review! You guys make Muse happy and happy Muse likes to write**

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Her back was vibrating; that was Leigh's first thought as she was shaken back to consciousness. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but it was obvious that she'd slumped next to her door and someone was pounding on the door.

"Leigh, you open this door or I'm telling Rogers to bust it down!" Stark's voice made her jerk up and slowly crawl away from the door.

"Open it yourself, it's unlocked." She hollered back and slowly dragged herself to one of the forest green plush chairs in the room.

Leigh's legs were protesting their sleeping arrangement by tingling almost painfully with pins and needles as she curled up on the chair, laying her head on the arm rest.

"Jarvis, I'm cold, can you turn the fireplace on please." She mumbled just loud enough for the AI to hear.

"Certainly Miss Harris."

Leigh thanked the AI as she heard the door open and two pairs of feet walking towards her. She kept her eyes on the now flickering flames in the gas fireplace a few feet away, hoping they'd see she was alive and leave. She wasn't going to be that lucky.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Tony stood in front of her and had his hands on his hips. "Come on kiddo, talk to me."

"I'm an idiot." She whispered, tears pricking her eyes again.

"You are not; you're one of the smartest people I know." Steve knelt down and looked her in the eyes.

"But I am." She sniffed and sighed, "I told Loki I love him."

Both men looked completely stunned. They looked to each other and then back at their friend.

"Well, do you?" Steve's voice was soft.

"Yes." The sobs started and Steve pulled her out of the chair and into his arms before sitting in the chair again, "he seemed so shocked, maybe even a bit happy, but then…then he got this insane look in his eyes and said just…just horrible things."

"What did he say?" Stark was angry.

"He…he said that I might love his mortal form, but would I still want him, love him if he came to me as a Jötun." Leigh shivered in Steve's arms, "That he would kiss me now because he has need of me, but when he becomes a god again that he thinks my opinion of him will change."

"You kissed him?" Steve seemed more shocked than angry.

"Twice." She buried her face in his neck and broke down.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Loki had been given quarters of his own the night before, once Banner had finished helping the man change and putting the air casts on. It was extremely awkward to walk without assistance so he lay in bed and tried to entertain himself with what the Midgardians called "television".

The door to his room slammed open so suddenly and with such force that Loki actually jumped. A very angry Tony Stark strode into the room and in a feat that shocked Loki for a second time, picked him off the bed and slammed him into the wall. Loki's recently repaired ribs protested the rough treatment, but going by the look in Stark's eyes, the Man of Iron probably wouldn't care.

"You're a complete asshole you know that right?" Stark growled at him, "That woman saved your stupid, lying ass when most of us would have let you rot in whatever festering hole we found you in. But she is so caring, so loving, that her friendship with your brother made it impossible for her not to help him. When she saw you in that room, she saw herself, saw the way her father beat her and then finally used her body for his own pleasure because he was drunk and a sick fuck." Tony's breath was hot against his face and Loki felt himself growing pale at the mortal's words, "She put you back together physically because it broke her heart to see you like that, _you_, the man that killed her friend and too many other people to name." Stark was only inches from his face, "She opened herself to you, exposed her past, opened her old wounds to help _you_ and when she's at her most vulnerable, that's when you decide to kick at her? You make me sick and if it wouldn't kill her and destroy the Avengers I'd ship you back to Fury and let him beat you to within an inch of your life for hurting her."

Stark released him so suddenly that he fell to his knees; Loki stayed on the floor, not sure what Stark would do if he stood, but also not sure that he would be able to stand properly with both casts and he would be damned if he showed any weakness to Stark.

"I am a god." Loki sneered up at Stark, "what should it matter to me how a mortal feels?"

The blow across his cheek stunned Loki, as did the fact that it really hurt.

"You're mortal right now Reindeer Games, you'd do well to remember that." Stark started to walk towards the door but then paused, "Just so you know, Rogers and I are the only ones that know what actually happened between you and Leigh, I hope your brother doesn't ever find out."

Tony left Loki's room still trembling with rage; he couldn't believe he'd actually been able to pick the god up and slam him against the wall, let alone hold him there while he read him the riot act. He was shaking as he walked into the living room and poured himself a drink. He wished Pepper were here, she'd be able to help Leigh, but she was in London, working with the architect on the plans for the ARC reactor there. He walked to his window and looked out over the Manhattan skyline, the repairs were going along well but he was still unhappy.

"She fell asleep again." Rogers' voice as soft as he walked up next to Tony, "I could kill him."

"I know, but it would hurt her and Thor." Tony sighed, "I know he can be an arrogant prick, but he'd really seemed different around Leigh."

"Yeah," Steve nodded in agreement, "I wonder what changed?"

"Maybe it's that he's healing, he doesn't need her anymore." Tony shook his head, "He is the god of mischief and lies after all. In Norse myth Loki was known as a trickster god, he could have been playing us all from day one."

"Maybe, but why wait until she confesses her feelings?"

"It's Loki's MO, he hit us all where we lived a few months ago, why not do the same thing to her?" Tony shook his head again, "Something doesn't make sense."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh opened her eyes and sighed, she was tucked into bed so Steve must have put her there. She couldn't believe that she'd cried herself asleep again. She hadn't been this emotional in a long time. She got out of bed and walked to her window. She saw a few construction crews fixing building around the city and smiled, happy that her adoptive city was getting the attention it needed. She was still standing at the window when there was a soft knock at her door.

"Come in Bruce." She called while not moving from the window.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, walking to stand beside her.

"Only you and Pepper knock that softly and she's still in London until next week." she said, not looking at him.

"You okay?"

"Not really, but I think I will be eventually." Leigh sighed heavily, "I let myself get too attached to him Bruce; I should have known with my history that it was a bad idea to get involved."

"Caring for the people you're helping heal isn't always a bad thing Leigh, I'm sure Charles taught you that." Bruce had never met the man but he had seen how much Leigh respected him.

Leigh nodded, "he did. Hank warned me though; he said that with how sensitive a soul I am that I could get too attached, he was right." Leigh had rarely mentioned the people at her old school so Bruce knew how shaken she must be to talk of her past.

Bruce put his arm around the petite woman's shoulders and pulled her close to his side; she sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.

"I've never seen you this emotional." Bruce whispered, "Tony told me what happened when you were a kid, it's not surprising you'd identify with what Loki went through."

Leigh nodded against him, not wanting to talk, figuring it would cause another breakdown.

"I'll take care of Loki now that the serious issues are out of the way, you don't have to see him if you don't want to." Bruce said, squeezing her shoulder.

"I don't." She took a deep breath, still staring out the window, "I never want to see that son of a bitch again."


	10. Fresh Starts and Reaching Out

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, but "Punishment & Forgiveness" kinda dominated my mind for a while, but looks like Broken is coming back for another round! Thanks for your patience and Happy New Year!**

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Leigh drove up to the gate and sighed; she hadn't been back since she'd left, except for Charles' funeral. She pressed the buzzer and waited.

"Xavier's School, how can I help you?" the voice was unfamiliar and she sighed.

"This is Leigh Harris and I'm here to see Dr. McCoy."

"Welcome."

The gate swung open and Leigh drove through and up to the front of the house. She turned the car off and took a deep breath. She looked up as the door opened and Hank stepped out of it. Leigh got out of her car and walked towards her friend as he descended the stairs.

"Welcome home Leigh." He smiled and enveloped her in a warm hug.

The feel of his warm body and the tickle of his fur made her smile; she'd missed Hank McCoy. She buried her face in his chest and sighed.

"Thanks Hank." She gave him a quick squeeze then pulled back.

"I'm glad you came back." He smiled down at her, "We have a few new telekenetics that could use your help."

Leigh nodded, "It'll take me a while to get back into the swing of things, but sure, I can give them a hand."

Hank helped her with her suitcases and led her to the teachers' wing of the school and she sighed again. The last time she was here, she was still a student. She smiled as Hank opened the door and it was a room for her on her own. She saw the nice double bed and the door that led to a private bathroom. They placed her suitcases in the room and then Hank started leading her back to the main area of the house.

"Leigh?" a deep voice behind her made her turn around and she launched herself at her old friend.

"Logan!" she smiled as the tough Canadian wrapped his arms around and spun her around.

"Hey." He set her down and stepped back, setting his hands on her shoulders. "You doing okay?"

"I will be."

Logan nodded, "S.H.I.E.L.D. really put you through the ringer, didn't they?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "they really did."

"Well, you're home now." A soft female voice came from the side and she smiled at Oruro Monroe.

"True." Leigh smiled and hugged her old teacher. "It's been too long."

"Well you are welcome to stay here as long as you need." Oruro smiled, "We still have that teaching spot open if you'd like."

"You know, I think that's just what I need." Leigh shook her new boss's hand and smiled.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Tony walked into the lounge and nearly turned back around. Loki was standing by the window, staring out at the city and he did not look happy.

"Where is she?" the god's voice was tense.

"Which she are you talking about, because Pepper is in London."

"Don't play word games with me Stark; you know whom I speak of."

"She left." Stark said, deciding that honesty was best.

"When?"

"Three days ago."

Stark couldn't have hurt him more if he'd punched him in the stomach. Leigh had been gone three days and she hadn't said good bye.

"Why?"

"She got a new job." Stark walked up, seeing the god's shoulder slump. "She's very independent, didn't like living off the Stark money."

"Where?" Loki wasn't even sure he'd heard himself ask the question.

"I won't tell you." Stark said, "She asked us not to tell you, so I won't."

Loki was trembling; he was angry, but he wasn't sure if he was mad at Stark, mad at Leigh or mad at himself. He turned; his face a mask of rage and pain.

"Tell me!" he screamed, trying to not remember yelling the same thing at Odin.

"No."

Loki hung his head, he'd messed up and he knew he had, but how could he explain how she made him feel? How he could make them understand the fear he felt at the idea of losing her, the knowledge that she would slowly age and then die long before he even seemed to have aged much more than a year or two? The disgust that he felt for himself was almost overwhelming.

"Stark, have you ever wanted something, but feared losing it at the same time?" Loki asked, deciding that perhaps, since the Man of Iron had helped save him and was her friend it would be okay to reach out, just this once.

"Yes." Stark smiled, "Pepper, I loved her for so long before I actually said anything; I regret it now because I lost so much time with her, but at the same time I think I appreciate her more now because I waited so long. Why?"

"I feel…" he hesitated, not sure he should expose himself that much.

"You feel that way about Leigh?" Tony asked and hearing her name was like a shard of glass to his heart.

"Yes."

"Well, you got a damn funny way of showing it." Tony said and Loki could tell he was upset.

"I am a god, I will live for millennia." Loki said, unused to exposing himself like this, "She will not."

"None of us will, besides your brother." Tony sighed, "But I think I understand."

Loki nodded and turned back to look at the city.

"What you need to ask yourself is, would you rather have a few decades of happiness with her or constantly wonder what you missed out on by giving into your fear."

Loki stood stunned as he heard the Man of Iron walk away, leaving him to stew and think about what he was asked.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh woke up for her first day of teaching and sighed; she wasn't sure if she was ready for this and she missed her friends back at Stark Tower. She slipped out of bed and into her private washroom. She knew the staff would be getting together for breakfast and she was expected to attend so she quickly washed her face and got dressed. Her black slacks look good and she purposely pulled on a red blouse and hung a gold chain around her neck. Her shoes were comfy and black as well and as she headed to the dining room for breakfast.

Breakfast had gone well and as she headed into her class to set up she smiled. She had sat in those same desks and watched her professors talk about all kinds of subjects. She knew she would have only the telekinetics in her class because that's what she would be teaching so she placed a few objects on each desk and then wrote her name on the board for the students to read when they walked in.

Leigh's first student was a boy, he looked to be about thirteen and as he read her name he nodded and picked a desk.

"Hello." She smiled at him, he was smaller than most and he kind of reminded her of the pictures she'd seen of Steve before his transformation.

"Hi Ms. Harris." He smiled shyly at her.

"What's your name?" she asked, taking in his sandy hair and blue eyes.

"I'm Mark." He replied, "Mark Briggs."

"Nice to meet you Mark, how long have you been here?"

"About three months."

Leigh nodded as a slightly older girl walked in, looked at board and walked up to her.

"Hi, I'm Lanie." She held her hand out and Leigh shook it.

"Nice to meet you Lanie, please pick a desk."

Two more girls walked in, introduced themselves as Sarah and Sasha and sat down. Leigh checked her list and knew they were waiting for one more student. A few minutes later he walked in and Leigh almost did a double take. He was tall, thin and had shoulder length dark hair. His eyes were brown though and he picked a desk at the back of the room and didn't say much.

"Alright, I'm going to assume that you all know each other." Leigh said and they all nodded, "So, before we continue a bit about myself. My name is Leigh Harris, I was taught and trained here by Charles Xavier. I left after graduation to work for another organization, I've been there for nearly six years."

The dark haired boy put his hand up.

"Yes Drake?"

"What organization?"

"That's classified." Leigh responded and his eyes widened. "Any other questions?"

"Are you like us?" Mark asked.

"A mutant?" Leigh laughed, "Yes, I am and more specifically, I'm a telekinetic like all of you too."

The all smiled, I knew since Charles and Jean had died that they didn't really have anyone to look up to or learn from.

"Prove it." Drake smirked at her.

Leigh looked at the smirking boy and then picked up his desk. It rose levelly and at a slow steady speed until it was hovering about six feet in the air, nothing on it moved. She held it there and slowly picked up the desks the other students were sitting behind as well until they were level with the first. She held them a few moments before dropping them and then catching them less than two inches from the floor. She set them down gently and the pencils and other objects hit the desks and some rolled off.

The students were watching her with awe in their faces.

"That was like something out of Star Wars!" Mark exclaimed and Leigh knew they'd along just fine.

"Alright, first lesson, pick up everything that fell off your desk, but do not leave your seat."

The students looked at her and gasped, they tried to protest and she held up a finger.

"You will never learn if you don't try." She said, remembering Charles telling her the same thing. "Begin."

Leigh sat behind her desk and watched them struggling to pick up pencils, paper cups and rubber balls from the floor. Well, most of them anyway, Mark look at his pencil and it slowly rose off the floor and settled on his desk. Leigh focused her attention on the young boy and watched him pick up the rubber ball next and set it next to the pencil so it wouldn't roll back off.

_He's special._ She thought and turned her attention back to the rest of the class.

Drake seemed to be having the most trouble and there was sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to get the pencil off the floor.

She stood and slowly walked to him, placing her hands on his slim shoulders she felt him tense.

"Don't force it Drake," she whispered, "Just imagine you're bending down to pick it up, it's just that simple and that hard at the same time."

The class ended and only Mark had gotten all of his items back on his desk; Leigh was impressed because he was the youngest of the students and conceivably had the least practice.

"Good job everyone, I'll see you tomorrow and we'll try again." They got up and left the room.

Logan walked in as they left the room and sighed, "You have a phone call from New York."


	11. Phone Calls and Visits

Leigh walked into her office and picked up the phone and hit the button for the blinking line. She took a deep breath and answered.

"Leigh Harris."

"Hey Professor." Tony's voice hit her ear and she smiled broadly.

"Mr. Stark." She laughed, "Lovely to hear from you."

"Yeah, well, thought you'd like if we kept in touch."

"Thanks Tony." She smiled and leaned back in her chair, "how are things in New York?"

"Haven't changed much since you left." He sighed, "I think Steve misses you."

She laughed again, "Yeah, I kind of miss him too; there's a kid in my glass reminds me a lot of Steve."

"You're teaching already?"

"Today was my first day, I only have five students but there great kids." Leigh was smiling more than she had in a while. "Tony, I miss you too you know."

She heard Tony clear his throat, "I know."

Leigh had known Tony a long time and she had a feeling if he and Pepper hadn't gotten together that there may have been a spark or two between them.

"When does Pepper get back from London?"

"Tomorrow." Tony said and there was something strange in his voice.

"Tony, don't." she whispered, "Not now."

"Okay." He sighed, "He asked you know."

"Did you tell him?" her heart started pounding, why would he ask about her.

"Only what you told me I could." He sighed, "he got angry."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it was a short reaction and then well, you told me not to talk about it."

"When has that ever stopped you?" she sighed.

"Never." Tony chuckled.

"So he got angry and then what?"

"He got sad."

Leigh felt like she'd been punched in the gut; Loki was sad? Why would he be sad? He made it clear that he was only using her. She sighed and shook her head.

"Well, that's interesting." She mused and heard Tony sigh.

"Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you."

"Yeah, I appreciate it Tony." She smiled, "Tell Steve and Bruce I say hi and you'll have to come visit some time."

"We'll work it out."

Leigh hung up the phone and headed to lunch, she decided she didn't care why Loki was all of sudden sad. He was the god of mischief and lies so there was no reason to trust him.

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Three weeks, she'd been gone three weeks and none of her friends would tell him where she'd gone. Loki paced his rooms and wondered what he was going to do now. He was fully healed, but still mortal. He didn't like relying on Stark but he didn't seem to have much choice. There was a knock on his door and he considered telling whoever it was to go away but he had precious little company unless he sought it out so he called for them to come in.

"Brother." Thor's voice boomed in the small room and Loki felt his shoulders tense.

"Why do you insist on calling me that?" Loki turned his face in a viscous scowl.

"Were we not raised together?" Thor asked, "Regardless of blood that makes us brothers."

Loki sighed and nodded, as much as the Allfather betrayed him, Thor could not have known his true parentage. He sank into a chair and sighed again.

"Why are you here Thor?"

"You are in pain my brother, where else would I be?"

"And what pains me so?" Loki sneered, not wanting to admit that he was in pain.

"Your heart brother, something I thought would never happen."

Thor's voice had been soft but the words cut into him like a razor. Loki nodded, ashamed to bare his pain to his brother.

"I was a fool." He whispered.

"You love her but she will die." Thor whispered, "I share your fear my brother."

Loki and Thor had never talked about Jane Foster, at least not outside of battle and Loki was a bit surprised his brother had brought it up.

"How do you not despair?"

"I do." Thor sighed, "I fear the day she will be gone from my life more greatly than she will ever realize."

Loki was shocked; he had always thought Thor so perfect, the golden boy of Asgard, to know that he had fears was…shocking, there was no other word for it.

"But she is worth it." Thor spoke softly again, a foreign light in his eyes. "I would gladly suffer a thousand years of sadness after she is gone for the joy being with her brings me."

"I do not know if I am strong enough." Loki said, realizing that he was with the only other being in the nine realms that would possibly understand. "I fear that losing her would destroy me."

"How do you feel now my brother?"

"Like I am slowly dying." the god whispered and a tear slid down his cheek. "They will not tell me where she is."

"You hurt her, badly." Thor said, "She is very angry with you."

"You know what happened then?"

"I do." Thor sighed, "Dr. Banner confided in me after she left. I did not understand how she could leave you so easily after everything that had happened."

"I was a great fool." Loki sighed, "Do you think Heimdall would search for her?"

"I can but ask, I do not know what his answer will be."

"Thank you Thor."

~A~A~A~A~A~

"Drake you're still forcing it." Leigh sighed, watching the seventeen-year-old struggling.

The young man sighed and sagged in his chair. Leigh handed him a towel and he wiped his face with it. He looked so disappointed.

"Drake, it's okay." She sat in front of him and waited until he met her eyes. "This didn't come easy for me either."

"It didn't?" his skin was paler than Leigh liked to see in her students.

"Nope." She smiled, "The big stuff, the stuff that didn't require finesse, I could do that till the cows came home, but the fine details, not so much. I still have trouble with it some days, it take more concentration and drains me faster."

Drake smiled at her and Leigh knew what a rarity it was for him to do that. She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled back at him.

"Why don't you take a bit of a break, have some water and try again in say, fifteen?"

Drake nodded and closed his eyes, taking some slow steady deep breaths. Leigh stood and watched Sarah and Sasha playing catch with a tennis ball.

"Be careful Sarah, you're getting close to the window."

"Yes Ms. Harris." The blonde smiled and shifted her position subtly, forcing her brunette friend to change the course of the ball.

Lanie was sitting with her eyes closed and working on lifting two pencils at the same time, moving them up and down at the same time and then in opposite directions. Leigh turned to see Mark sitting on the floor, his eyes closed and face blissful as he juggled five balls of differing colours and weights without touching them.

Leigh could not believe how far her students had come in just three weeks. A soft knock at the door caught her attention and she opened it without thinking. Storm stood in the door way and laughed.

"Leigh, you have a visitor." She smiled, "he wanted to see you at work."

"Oh." She was surprised but delighted when Bruce walked through the door. "Bruce!" she ran to her friend and the scientist hugged her tightly.

"Hey Leigh." He smiled and saw the students watching him, "Tony said you wanted to see us and I thought one at a time might be a better idea."

"Bruce, yes, this is a wonderful surprise." Leigh led him to the front of the classroom and saw the students watching him. "Everyone, this is my friend Bruce Banner, Bruce these are my students, Mark, Sarah, Sasha, Lanie and Drake."

"Nice to meet you," Bruce smiled, "You guys are really lucky to have Leigh here."

"Yeah, we are." Mark's voice was almost reverent, "She's an amazing teacher."

"Thank you Mark." Leigh smiled but she saw Drake looking sulky. "Sarah and Sasha, why do you show Dr. Banner what we've been working on this week."

The girls were blushing as Bruce walked over and started telling him what they'd been working on. Leigh walked over to Drake and sat in front of him again.

"What's wrong Drake?"

"Nothing." He said, but he was practically pouting.

"Bruce isn't my boyfriend, if that's what you're thinking." She said and watched the pale boy blush. "Drake, is everything okay?"

"I…um…" his face was nearly crimson. "I guess."

"I think you and I need to talk after class, my office before lunch okay?"

"Okay."

"Good, now, how about we work on getting that pencil off the floor?"

~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh sighed as she closed the door behind Drake, he was a good kid but he was also confused. She'd read his file, his parents had kicked him out at thirteen because he was a mutant. Scott had found him on the street and brought him back to the school and he'd been there ever since. He had no compass, no one to really care for him so he was latching on to her kindness and mistaking it for something else entirely. She sat behind her desk and hung her head. He thought he was falling in love with her, which would have been sweet had he not been seventeen and one of her students. She knew that she'd been spending a lot of time with him in class because he was struggling but now she was wondering if he was struggling to get her to spend time with him. The other students were improving in leaps and bounds and she wasn't giving them as much attention. Her mind drifted to Mark, he had real talent and she wanted to start nurturing it. She started roughing out a plan to see how she could encourage his natural talents and abilities when there was a knock on the door. She opened the door with a thought and smiled at Bruce.

"Come in, I feel I'm being a bad hostess." She kept smiling as he sat down.

"No, it's okay, I know you have to work. I was actually spending some time with Dr. McCoy."

"Hank is a pretty awesome man, you two remind me of each other." She smirked at Bruce's look.

"Yes, I can understand that." He smiled a bit and then sighed, "Leigh, how long are you planning on staying here?"

"I'm really not sure Bruce." She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I'm actually enjoying myself here, which I didn't think I would. Those kids are great and seeing their talents bloom is amazing." She shook her head, "I do miss you, Tony, and Steve but right now, this is what I need. No crises, no stresses bigger than a student having crush on me, I need time away from the Avengers."

"You mean you need time away from the tower and Loki." Bruce said bluntly and Leigh flinched. "You told me you didn't want to see him again and then you just left, came back here and accepted a teaching position with talking to any of us."

"I don't have to clear my decisions with any of you." Leigh said, getting upset, "This is my life and I wasn't comfortable living off Tony's kindness anymore."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Leigh could tell Bruce was getting upset as well. "You were completely fine being there with us until Loki shoved you away."

Leigh hung her head, "I thought he'd changed, let myself get attached and that was my mistake. Once I saw things clearly I knew I had to make a change, remove the temptation."

"He's miserable Leigh." Bruce said suddenly, "He spends most of the day in room and when he comes out he stares over the city as if he wishes hard enough you'll appear of thin air."

"I highly doubt that." She sighed, "he made it pretty clear that I was a convenience, only to be used until he no longer needed to be cared for."

"And if was lying?"

Leigh's head snapped up and she looked at her friend in shock, "What did you say?"

"What if he was lying?" Bruce sighed, "He is the god of lies after all."

Leigh rested her arms on her desk and looked at her friend; she hadn't even considered that was a possibility. She just took Loki's words at face value.

"Why would he lie?" she asked, "Besides the obvious."

"Fear." A deep voice answered from the door and both Bruce and Leigh jumped in shock.


	12. Honesty

**Thank you lovely reviewers! I am so glad you like the story but I have to be honest, it's kinda wrapping up now. There will be a sequel not to worry because there are other characters that have appeared that deserve their story told AND there is no way I am done with Leigh and Loki yet. This story will have a couple more chapters and then on to the sequel, which will be called "Broken No More" and I have a feeling we'll be seeing Black Widow at some point in the sequel. She and Leigh have unfinished business.**

* * *

"Thor." Leigh shot to her feet and stared at the blond Asgardian. "How did you get here?"

"Heimdall has been watching for you." Thor answered, "The Allfather requested he make sure you are always safe because of what you did for Loki."

Leigh nodded, "Does he know where I am?" her voice cracked and she hated herself for it.

"No." Thor walked in and closed the door, "I have respected your wishes and have not told Loki that you are this close."

Leigh nodded again and sat back down. "Why did you come?"

"I came to speak with you." He answered honestly, "My brother is not doing well."

"Well, whose fault is that?" Leigh snapped at the god of thunder.

"It is very much his own." Thor replied, "But that does not change that I do not like seeing my brother in pain."

"What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Speak to him." Thor said bluntly, "You asked why he would lie to you, he is afraid Leigh."

"I highly doubt that." She shook her head and looked at Bruce, "Feel free to head to lunch, I'm sure Hank would enjoy your company."

The doctor took the hint, shook Thor's hand and left the two of them alone. Leigh turned back to Thor, seeing the pain and confusion in the god's eyes.

"What on Earth does your brother have to be afraid of?"

"Losing you." Thor answered honestly, "I do not enjoy speaking for my brother, but he is very much afraid to lose you."

"He's already done that Thor." Leigh sighed, "He hurt me, very deeply, doubted the very core of my being, I'm not sure I can forget that."

"Please, just…call him." Thor stood and held his hand out, "I must return to Asgard for a time, I hope all is well when I return."

Thor left and Leigh sat staring at the phone; sighing and mentally kicking herself she picked it up and dialled Stark Tower.

"Stark Tower, how many I direct your call?"

Leigh laughed, "Jarvis, it's me."

"Miss Harris, how lovely to hear from you. How can I help you?" Jarvis replied.

"I um…I need to speak to Loki." She said hesitantly.

"Certainly, please hold."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~A~

Loki was pacing his room when that damnable voice in the walls spoke to him.

"Mr. Laufeyson, you have a phone call."

"Pardon me?"

"The telephone Sir, it is for you."

Loki looked at the strange device and picked it up. He heard Jarvis telling him to wait as he patched the call through.

"Hello?" he said, unsure who would be calling him.

"Loki?"

His breath rushed out of his lungs and he sat heavily on the side of his bed.

"Leigh?" he hadn't thought to ever ear from her again.

"Yeah."

"I…" He had no idea what to say.

"Are you…okay?" the words were soft and he could hear the worry behind them.

"I…" he sighed, he was tired of lying to her and to himself. "No."

"I'm sorry." She whispered and his heart felt like it was breaking.

"No, I am the one who must apologize." He sighed, "I said some horrible things to you."

"You did."

"I should not have said those things for I did not mean them."

"You're the god of lies." Her voice was tight.

"You should not lie to those you care about." He said, "And I…care about you Leigh."

"I care about you too Loki." He heard her sigh, "Your words would not have hurt so much if I did not."

"I…I know and I am sorry." It felt weird to apologize, but he knew he needed to do it.

"Why did you say those things?"

"I…" he sighed, he hated that lying came easily to him, "I was scared." His voice was low and he sounded so small to his own ears.

"We shouldn't have this talk over the phone." She sighed, "I have the weekend off, if I came home, would you see me?"

Loki thought his chest was going to explode, "I would." He found himself actually smiling, "you still consider Stark Tower home?"

"Yes." She sighed, "I do."

~A~A~A~A~A~A~

The three days until the weekend were the hardest for Leigh to endure. She started working with Mark more during their classes but she noticed that Drake was still struggling. She felt bad but hoped if she gave him no choice that he would improve without her help. Mark was an amazing distraction for her. He was smart and funny and very sweet; she started looking at him like she would a younger brother. There was no information in his file about his family, apparently he was an orphan and the orphanage had called the school a few months ago when Mark had thrown a ball without picking it up.

She was in her room packing a bag for the weekend when Logan knocked on the door. She opened it as she walked from her closet to the bed and he laughed.

"Still freaks me out that you do that." He said, shutting the door the "normal" way.

Leigh laughed and set the shirts in her hands into the bag on the bed. She look at her friend and cocked and eyebrow at him.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked, watching her.

"Want to, no." she sighed, "Need to, yes."

"Why?"

"I've never been a coward Logan, you should know this." She took a deep breath, "And if I'm wrong, I need to know."

Logan nodded, "You feel like you ran away."

"I did run Logan." She sat on the bed and hung her head, "For the first time in my life I ran."

He sat on the edge of the bed and dropped an arm around her shoulders, "You are one of the strongest young women I've ever met, but you are allowed to have a bad day."

She leaned against his shoulder and nodded. She remembered what a good friend he'd been to her when she was younger and kissed his cheek.

"I love you my brother." She smiled and he kissed her cheek.

"I know you too sis." He smiled at her, they weren't related but that didn't matter, they were family. "I'll walk you downstairs, there's a helicopter and a very annoying billionaire waiting for you."

She laughed and Logan picked up her bag and walked downstairs with her. Hank was standing in the hallway and Tony did not look impressed.

"Tony, behave." She smirked at her friend and he gave her playful glare.

They hugged and he took her bag from Logan. She hugged Hank and Logan goodbye and promised them she'd be back Sunday night. She whispered something in Logan's ear about Drake and Mark and he nodded.

"Consider it handled."

"Thank Logan."

They walked out to the chopper and once they were buckled in and in the air Tony started asking questions.

"Why now?"

"What do you mean why now?" she asked back.

"What changed? A couple weeks ago you didn't care."

"I wouldn't say I didn't care, I just wasn't ready to admit I might be wrong."

"So what changed?"

"I had a couple of visitors." She sighed, "I felt like Scrooge."

Tony laughed and banked the chopper towards Stark Tower. The ride didn't last nearly as long as she would have liked and they touched down on the pad and she waited for the rotors to stop spinning before she got out. Steve was waiting for her in the living room and enveloped her in a hug. Leigh was struck again by how much Steve and Mark looked alike but shrugged it off and headed to her rooms to set her bag down.

She sat on her bed and wondered why she was hesitating.

"Jarvis, is Loki in his rooms?"

"He is."

"Thank you."

She sighed and didn't move. There were so many "what ifs" running through her head. What if he turned on her again? What if he didn't love her? What if she was wrong and she didn't love him? She sighed again and finally realized she was being cowardly again. Leigh stood and walked to Loki's door, which wasn't too far from her own. She took a deep breath and knocked.

"Enter."

She actually opened the door the way regular people did and stepped into Loki's room before shutting the door behind her.

"I hope you didn't change your mind." She said, keeping her voice low and trying to keep her expectations in the same way.

Loki had been looking out the window but turned when he heard her voice. He almost couldn't believe she'd actually come. She was wearing black jeans and a green shirt and he felt his chest get tight at how beautiful she looked.

"No, I didn't." he strode across the room and pulled her into his arms, "I most certainly did not."

She threw her arms around his neck and held him close. "Oh Loki I've missed you." She pressed her face into his neck as he bent down to hold her.

"I missed you too." He whispered and pulled back so he could see her face. "I am so sorry."

"I forgive you." She whispered and her eyes were wet.

Loki looked at her, the woman he now realized he loved, and lowered his head. She trembled as he touched his lips to hers and he felt his body tremble too as she closed her eyes and surrendered to the kiss.


	13. Release

**A/N: So glad you enjoyed the last chapter! This one was a lot of fun to write, mild smut warning, it's not gratuitous or anything but yeah...anyway...enjoy! Story definitely starting to wrap up, but can't wait to move onto the sequel.**

* * *

Leigh couldn't believe Loki was kissing her, but she wasn't going to fight it. She opened her mouth to him and he thrust his tongue inside and started exploring her mouth again. His hands gripped her waist and she fisted hers in his hair. She kissed him back with as much passion as he was giving her. She felt her back bump against the door and moaned. His hand had slid to cup her ass and she shivered as he lifted her with incredible ease and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Loki…" she panted as he started to nibble down her neck, "Oh Loki."

He rested his lips against her neck and tried to control his breathing; what was it about her that drew him so much. He decided it didn't matter. He loved her and he wanted her and no one would get in his way again, especially not himself.

"Don't stop." She whispered and it set his blood on fire.

He kissed her neck softly and drew back.

"I wish I didn't have to." He panted, "But…we need to talk Leigh."

"Yes, that's true." She sighed but she was shivering as he set her down.

He drew her to the chair in the room and let her sit down. "I'm sorry about that, you just…you're so beautiful and I have missed you."

"It's okay Loki." She reached out and took his hand, watching the long fingers wrap around her hand, "If I didn't want it too I wouldn't have let it happen."

"That is true." He smiled, "you are more than capable of removing me from your presence."

"Loki, when we spoke on the phone," she paused a second, "you said you were scared."

"I was, I am." He hung his head a moment and then looked at her, "I am scared."

Leigh was shocked by the tears in Loki's eyes, "Scared of what?"

"So many things." He was trembling, "Losing you, you dying, of these feelings you stir in me."

"What feelings?" she whispered, her voice cracking a bit.

"Insatiable lust." He paused and raised his eyes to her again, "And love."

"Love?"

"I love you Leigh."

Leigh's breath froze in chest at those words. He loved her? Her mind was spinning as she look at him, sitting there, his eyes wet and his hand gripping hers tightly.

"I know I acted foolishly and that you have no reason to believe me." he sighed, "I wish I could take back all those things I said, they were fed by my fear."

"Fear of what, loving me?"

"Losing you, if you couldn't love all of me." his voice was soft she almost didn't hear it.

"All of…oh." She sat back in the chair as the realization hit her. "You think I'll be frightened of or disgusted by your Jotun-form."

"It disgusts me, why would it not disgust you?"

"There's only one way to find out." She sighed, "I know you can't show me now, but Loki, if you truly love me, trust me not to fear you. When you can, show me with an open heart and I will accept you."

"You cannot be sure of that." He said and she could see the pain in his eyes.

"No, but that is where love and trust come in." she moved from the chair and knelt before him, watching his emerald eyes, "If you will trust me, I will trust you."

"I…" he hesitated, "I do not know if I am strong enough."

"You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for my love." She cupped his cheek, "You survived three brutal weeks at the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. and have lived in a place where you were mistreated for centuries. You are strong."

"I love you so much I think losing you would kill me."

Leigh didn't know what to say to that, so she kissed him. She sealed her lips to his and put her heart and soul into the kiss. He pulled her close and kissed her back, showing her how much he loved her as well. She held his face in her hands and slid her tongue into his mouth. He moaned softly and stroked her tongue with his. His hands were in her hair and he slowly tilted her head back so he could trial his lips down the smooth, pale skin of her neck.

"Loki." She sighed his name and he pulled her into his lap.

His hand slid from her hair and to her back under her shirt.

"I love you Loki." She moaned the words and he shivered.

"I love you too Leigh." He held her close as he picked her up and carried to the bed.

He laid her down in the center and braced himself above her. She watched him with open love, trust, and lust on her face and he realized that he had never felt more complete in his life.

He lowered himself to her lips again and kissed her softly, almost sweetly and felt himself weep as she gave him the same tenderness back.

Slowly, with no thought of anything but each other, they undressed each other, reveling in each knew area bared before the other. When Loki slid his hand between her thighs her back arched in pleasure and she moaned his name. He brought her to a mind shattering peak with just his fingers and when she screamed his name he knew he was lost to her, forever.

Leigh drew his body between her legs and stroked him as she guided him to her entrance.

"Make love with me Loki." Her silver eyes dark with lust.

"Yes." He nodded and kissed her as he pressed himself into her, "my love."

Slowly, achingly they moved together rising and falling in a haze of pleasure until she shattered again and he followed, filling her with glorious warmth. She held his trembling body in her arms, his head resting on her chest in the afterglow and felt the warmth of his tears on the skin over her heart. She stroked his hair and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I do not think I have ever known love before my love," he spoke with a trembling voice, "and I doubt I shall ever know it again, once you are…gone."

She heard the break in his voice as he thought of a time without her and she felt a few tears leak from her own eyes.

"I have never known love before either." She whispered back to him, "I am glad that it is you that shown me the true meaning of love."

~A~A~A~A~A~

A soft smile appeared on the face of the Allfather as he sat on his throne in Asgard. His son was broken no more, this small Midgardian woman had healed in him all the damage her own people had done and that that he and his people had caused as well. With a wave of his hand Loki's powers were unbound and his godhood restored.

~A~A~A~A~A~

Leigh watched in shock and fear as Loki's back arched and he screamed. When he sagged back against the bed she knelt by him, frantically calling his name, begging him to open his eyes and look at her. His chest was heaving and suddenly his armour appeared on him and he sat up straight in bed, his eyes snapped open and he turned to look at her.

"I am…" he smiled, his eyes lighting up, "a god, once more."


End file.
